Position determination of a cellular device using carrier phase smoothing

ABSTRACT

A Global Navigation Satellite System (GNSS) chipset embedded within the cellular device is accessed. The GNSS chipset calculates raw observables that include raw pseudoranges and carrier phase information. The raw observables are extracted from the GNSS chipset for processing elsewhere in the cellular device outside of the GNSS chipset. Smoothed pseudoranges are provided by smoothing the raw pseudoranges based on the carrier phase information. The accessing, the extracting and the providing are performed by one or more hardware processors located in the cellular device and outside of the GNSS chipset.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS Continuation in Part

This application claims priority and is a continuation-in-partapplication of co-pending U.S. patent application Ser. No. 14/035,884,filed on Sep. 24, 2013 entitled, “EXTRACTING PSEUDORANGE INFORMATIONUSING A CELLULAR DEVICE” by Rudow et al., having Attorney Docket No.TRMB-3172.CIP1, and assigned to the assignee of the present applicationand to the extent not repeated herein; the contents of U.S. patentapplication Ser. No. 14/035,884 are hereby incorporated herein byreference. U.S. patent application Ser. No. 14/035,884 claimed priorityto and benefit of then co-pending U.S. Provisional Patent ApplicationNo. 61/746,916, filed on Dec. 28, 2012 entitled, “IMPROVED GPS/GNSSACCURACY FOR A CELL PHONE” by Rudow et al., having Attorney Docket No.TRMB-3172.PRO, and assigned to the assignee of the present application;the contents of U.S. Provisional Patent Application No. 61/746,916 wereincorporated by reference into U.S. patent application Ser. No.14/035,884.

Application Ser. No. 14/035,884, also claimed priority to and is acontinuation-in-part to the co-pending patent application Ser. No.13/842,447, Attorney Docket Number TRMB-3172, entitled “OBTAININGPSEUDORANGE INFORMATION USING A CELLULAR DEVICE,” by Richard Rudow, withfiling date Mar. 15, 2013, and assigned to the assignee of the presentapplication, the disclosure of which was incorporated by reference intoapplication Ser. No. 14/035,884.

This application is a continuation-in-part application of and claims thebenefit of co-pending U.S. patent application Ser. No. 13/954,995 filedon Jul. 31, 2013, entitled “ROLLING SEQUENTIAL BUNDLE ADJUSTMENT,” byShawn D. Weisenburger, having Attorney Docket No. TRMB-4134, andassigned to the assignee of the present application; the contents ofU.S. patent application Ser. No. 13/954,995 are hereby incorporated byreference herein.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

This application is related to co-pending U.S. patent application Ser.No. 14/134,437 filed on Dec. 19, 2013 entitled “GNSS RECEIVERPOSITIONING SYSTEM” by Peter Large et al., having Attorney Docket No.TRMB-3172.CIP10, and assigned to the assignee of the presentapplication.

This application is related to co-pending U.S. patent application Ser.No. TBD filed on TBD entitled “DEAD RECONING SYSTEM BASED ON LOCALLYMEASURED MOVEMENT” by Richard Rudow et al., having Attorney Docket No.TRMB-3172.CIP12, and assigned to the assignee of the presentapplication; the contents of which are hereby incorporated herein byreference in their entirety.

This application is related to co-pending U.S. patent application Ser.No. TBD filed on TBD entitled “CONCURRENT DUAL PROCESSING OFPSEUDORANGES WITH CORRECTIONS” by Richard Rudow et al., having AttorneyDocket No. TRMB-3172.CIP13, and assigned to the assignee of the presentapplication; the contents of which are hereby incorporated herein byreference in their entirety.

This application is related to co-pending U.S. patent application Ser.No. TBD filed on TBD entitled “LOCALLY MEASURED MOVEMENT SMOOTHING OFPOSITION FIXES BASED ON EXTRACTED PSEUDORANGES”” by Richard Rudow etal., having Attorney Docket No. TRMB-3172.CIP14, and assigned to theassignee of the present application; the contents of which are herebyincorporated herein by reference in their entirety.

This application is related to co-pending U.S. patent application Ser.No. TBD filed on TBD entitled “LOCALLY MEASURED MOVEMENT SMOOTHING OFGNSS POSITION FIXES” by Shawn Weisenburger et al., having AttorneyDocket No. TRMB-4134.CIP1, and assigned to the assignee of the presentapplication; the contents of which are hereby incorporated herein byreference in their entirety.

BACKGROUND

The Global Positioning System (GPS) and its extensions in the GlobalNavigation Satellite Systems (GNSS) have become thoroughly pervasive inall parts of human society, worldwide. GPS and GNSS receivers in theform of chipsets have become widely incorporated into cell phones andother types of cellular devices with cellular-based communicationsequipment.

Typically, cellular devices include highly integrated GNSS chipsets thatare designed to work with the E-911 service primarily, and are notdesigned to provide anywhere near a full range of features and outputs.They do provide a position fix, but are not designed to make availablevery many other parameters of interest. All GNSS receivers must acquire,track and decode a data message that conveys information about thelocation of the satellites in space, and time information. The principaladditional parameter obtained is the “pseudorange.” However,conventionally, this set of data is not available as an output from thecellular device's GNSS chipsets for use by the cellular device itself.Conventionally, in circumstances where it is available, it is underaccess control by the vendor.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWING

The accompanying drawings, which are incorporated in and form a part ofthis application, illustrate embodiments of the subject matter, andtogether with the description of embodiments, serve to explain theprinciples of the embodiments of the subject matter. Unless noted, thedrawings referred to in this brief description of drawings should beunderstood as not being drawn to scale. Herein, like items are labeledwith like item numbers.

FIG. 1A depicts a block diagram of a cellular device for extractingpseudorange information, according to one embodiment.

FIG. 1B depicts a block diagram of a cellular device for extracting andprocessing pseudorange information, according to one embodiment.

FIG. 1C depicts decision logic for determining whether to apply WAAS(Wide Area Augmentation System) corrections or DGPS (Differential GlobalPositioning System) corrections, according to one embodiment.

FIG. 1D depicts a block diagram of a cellular device for extractingpseudorange information, according to one embodiment.

FIG. 2 depicts a block diagram of multiple sources for providingpositioning correction information to a cellular device for processingpseudorange information, according to one embodiment.

FIG. 3 depicts a conceptual view of pseudorange measurements, accordingto various embodiments.

FIG. 4 depicts a flowchart for determining an RTK (Real Time Kinematic)position solution, according to one embodiment.

FIG. 5A is a flowchart of a method for performing a carrier phasesmoothing operation using real carrier phase information, according toone embodiment.

FIG. 5B is a flowchart of a method for generating reconstructed carrierphase information based on Doppler shift, according to one embodiment.

FIG. 6 depicts a flowchart of a method of extracting pseudorangeinformation using a cellular device, according to one embodiment.

FIGS. 7A-10 depict flowcharts of methods of improving the positionaccuracy using one or more position accuracy improvements, according tovarious embodiments.

FIG. 11 depicts a flowchart a method of accessing and processingextracted pseudorange information, according to one embodiment.

FIG. 12 depicts a block diagram of a GNSS receiver, according to oneembodiment.

FIG. 13 depicts an example Kalman Filtering process, according to someembodiments.

FIG. 14 depicts a flow chart with at least two processes executingconcurrently for providing position fix(es), according to variousembodiments.

FIGS. 15A-15J depict block diagrams of a cellular device and variousportions of the cellular device for providing improved position fixdetermination, according to one embodiment.

FIG. 16 depicts a block diagram of a cellular device for providingimproved position fix determination, according to one embodiment.

FIG. 17 depicts a block diagram of a cellular device and multiplesources for providing positioning correction information to the cellulardevice for processing pseudorange information, according to oneembodiment.

FIGS. 18A-18D depict diagrams of patterns where locally measuredmovement information is used to improve position fix determination,according to various embodiments.

FIG. 18E depicts various graphs for estimating a new position fix when aGNSS position fix is an outlier, according to various embodiments.

FIG. 19 depicts an example of Kalman Filter processing, according tosome embodiments.

FIGS. 20 a-26G depict flowcharts of methods for improving positiondetermination of a cellular device using locally measured movement,according to one embodiment.

FIGS. 27A-27C are example timelines that demonstrate techniques forusing various combinations of sensors and/or carrier phase smoothingconcurrently over time for improving position determination of acellular device using locally measured movement information, accordingto various embodiments.

FIG. 28 illustrates a frame from the 720 p video (1280×720) sequencetaken at 25 frames per second by Nikon D 800 camera using 35 mm lens,according to one embodiment.

FIG. 29 depicts light beams passing through the pinhole of a pinholecamera, according to one embodiment.

FIG. 30 illustrates x- and z-coordinates of the 2-D projection of a 3-Dpoint through a projection center of a pinhole camera, according to oneembodiment.

FIG. 31 depicts an image including a number of segments, each segmentincluding a minimum number of tracked features, according to oneembodiment.

FIG. 32 shows the sequential update in estimation of camera positionsand orientation from the initial N frames to the subsequent (N+1) frameswhile using the sequential rolling bundle adjustment algorithm,according to one embodiment.

FIG. 33 illustrates the solution of collinearity equations utilized forestimation of camera position and orientation for each frame and forestimating 3-D coordinates of the tracked key-points system, accordingto one embodiment.

DESCRIPTION OF EMBODIMENTS

Reference will now be made in detail to various embodiments of thesubject matter, examples of which are illustrated in the accompanyingdrawings. While various embodiments are discussed herein, it will beunderstood that they are not intended to limit to these embodiments. Onthe contrary, the presented embodiments are intended to coveralternatives, modifications and equivalents, which may be includedwithin the spirit and scope the various embodiments as defined by theappended claims. Furthermore, in the following Description ofEmbodiments, numerous specific details are set forth in order to providea thorough understanding of embodiments of the present subject matter.However, embodiments may be practiced without these specific details. Inother instances, well known methods, procedures, components, andcircuits have not been described in detail as not to unnecessarilyobscure aspects of the described embodiments.

Unless specifically stated otherwise as apparent from the followingdiscussions, it is appreciated that throughout the description ofembodiments, discussions utilizing terms such as “accessing,”“calculating,” “extracting,” “using,” “providing,” “applying,”“correcting,” “smoothing,” “reconstructing,” “modeling,” “improving,”“adjusting,” “filtering,” “discarding,” “removing,” “processing,”“determining,” “selecting,” “determining,” “locating,” “positioning,”“increasing,” “accessing,” “differentiating,” “integrating,” “bridging,”displaying,” “performing,” “providing,” “obtaining,” “calculating,”“receiving,” “storing,” “notifying,” “matching,” “creating,”“generating,” “communicating,” “transmitting,” “requesting,”“providing,” “activating, “deactivating,” “initiating,” “terminating,”“interpolating,” “changing,” “replacing,” “causing,” “transformingdata,” “modifying data to transform the state of a computer system,” orthe like, refer to the actions and processes of a computer system, datastorage system, storage system controller, microcontroller, hardwareprocessor, or similar electronic computing device or combination of suchelectronic computing devices. The computer system or similar electroniccomputing device manipulates and transforms data represented as physical(electronic) quantities within the computer system's/device's registersand memories into other data similarly represented as physicalquantities within the computer system's/device's memories or registersor other such information storage, transmission, or display devices.

I. Extracting Pseudorange Information Using a Cellular Device Overview

Cellular devices, such as cell phones and non-voice enabled cellulardevices, possesses pseudorange information that can be used in surveyingand other positioning operations. Conventionally, however, thepseudorange information from cellular device chipsets are only availableunder a limited set of conditions, usually only when performing a E-911service call, and then only for use by the Assisted GPS service locatedin conjunction with the E-911 service facility. Therefore, according toone embodiment, an embedded GNSS chipset is employed with in a cellulardevice, which: a) calculates pseudorange information for use by the GNSSchipset; and b) permits extraction of this pseudorange information bythe cellular device in which it is embedded. As will be discussed, thepseudorange information from the GNSS chipset is extracted for useelsewhere in the cellular device outside of the GNSS chipset.

Examples of Systems for Extracting Pseudorange Information

FIG. 1A depicts a block diagram of a cellular device 100 for extractingpseudorange information, according to one embodiment. Examples of acellular device 100 include a cell phone, a non-voice enabled cellulardevice, and a mobile hand-held GNSS receiver. The cellular device may bemobile or stationary. The cellular device may be hand-holdable orincorporated as a portion of a system which is not hand-holdable. Insome embodiments, a cellular device, such as cellular device 100, may beutilized as a portion of a navigation system, security system, safetysystem, telematics device/box, or the like. In some embodiments,cellular device 100 may be utilized as sub-system of the vehicle mountedportion of a vehicle safety system, security system, and/or navigationsystem. The vehicle mounted portion of the OnStar® vehicle safety,vehicle security, and vehicle navigation system that is utilized in manyvehicles is one non-limiting example of a system which may includecellular device 100.

As depicted in FIG. 1A, the cellular device 100 includes a GNSS chipset170, a GNSS receiver 107, a processor 172 that is part of the GNSSreceiver 107, a chipset accessor logic 141, a pseudorange informationextractor logic 142, an improved accuracy Secure User Platform Location(SUPL) client 101, a pseudorange information bridger logic 143, apseudorange information processing logic 150, an operating system 160, alocation manager logic 161, a location displayer logic 162, hardware 180that is outside of the GNSS receiver 107. According to one embodiment,the chipset accessor logic 141, the pseudorange information extractorlogic 142, the pseudorange information processing logic 150, and thepseudorange information bridger logic 143 are a part of the improvedaccuracy SUPL client 101.

According to one embodiment, the hardware 180 includes a hardwareprocessor 109 and memory 210. An example of a hardware processor 109 isa central processing unit. An example of hardware memory 210 is computerreadable storage, such as, but not limited to, a disk, a compact disk(CD), a digital versatile device (DVD), random access memory (RAM) orread only memory (ROM). The hardware memory 210 is physical and,therefore, tangible, according to one embodiment. The hardware memory210, according to another embodiment, is non-transitory.

According to one embodiment, the processor 172 and the GNSS receiver 107are a part of the GNSS chipset 170. According to one embodiment, thechipset accessor logic 141, pseudorange information extractor logic 142,the pseudorange information bridger logic 143, the improved accuracySUPL client 101, the operating system 160, and the processor 109 arelocated in a portion of the cellular device 100 that is outside of theGNSS chipset 170. The location manager logic 161 can be a part of theoperating system 160 and external to the GNSS chipset 170. According toone embodiment, the location displayer logic 162 is a part of thelocation manager logic 161. According to one embodiment, the chipsetaccessor logic 141, pseudorange information extractor logic 142, thepseudorange information processing logic 150, pseudorange informationbridger logic 143, and improved accuracy SUPL client 101 are applicationprogramming interfaces (API) function applications that reside in memoryof the cellular device 100 and are executed by a processor 109 of thecellular device 100.

According to one embodiment, the GNSS receiver 107 is capable ofreceiving signals from GPS satellites, GLONASS satellites, or from acombination of satellites from different constellations. The GNSSreceiver 107 can perform GPS measurements to derive raw measurement datafor a position of the cellular device 100. The raw measurement data canprovide an instant location of the cellular device 100. According to oneembodiment, the raw measurement data is the pseudorange information thatis extracted (also referred to as “extracted pseudorange information”).Examples of the extracted pseudorange information are uncorrectedpseudorange information, observed pseudorange information, or unsmoothedpseudorange information, or a combination thereof. Conventionally, theraw measurement data is only for use by the GNSS chipset 170 and theGNSS chipset 170 calculates pseudorange information that is only for useby the GNSS chipset 170. Examples of pseudorange information areuncorrected pseudorange information, smoothed pseudoranges, andcorrected pseudoranges. Examples of corrections used to improve accuracyof a position fix include differential GNSS corrections (DGPS), highprecision GNSS satellite orbital data, GNSS satellite broadcastephemeris data, and ionospheric and tropospheric error corrections anderror projections based on location.

The GNSS chipset 170 has a processor 172 and, therefore, is capable ofprocessing information, such as pseudorange information, itself.However, according to various embodiments, information that the GNSSchipset 170 has can be extracted from the GNSS chipset 170 and processedoutside of the GNSS chipset 170 instead of by the GNSS chipset 170 usingits own processor 172, in order to provide an improved accuracy positionfix.

The chipset accessor logic 141 is configured for accessing the GNSSchipset 170. The pseudorange information extractor logic 142 isconfigured for extracting the pseudorange information from the accessedGNSS chipset 170. The extracted pseudorange information can be receivedand stored continuously. The pseudorange information bridger logic 143is configured for bridging the pseudorange information from the GNSSchipset 170 to the location manager logic 161 that resides in theoperating system 160 of the cellular device 100.

According to one embodiment, the chipset accessor logic 141, thepseudorange information extractor logic 142, the pseudorange informationprocessing logic 150 and pseudorange information bridger logic 143 are apart of an improved accuracy SUPL client 101. For example, The SUPLclient 101 can interface between the GNSS chipset 170 and the locationmanager logic 161, which resides in the operating system 160.

The pseudorange information can be obtained from the processor 172 ofthe GNSS receiver 107. The GNSS chipset 170 may be designed, forexample, by the manufacturer of the GNSS chipset 170, to providerequested information, such as pseudorange information, in response toreceiving the command. The pseudorange information may be extracted fromthe GNSS chipset 170 using the command that the manufacturer hasdesigned the GNSS chipset 170 with. For example, according to oneembodiment, the GNSS chipset 170 is accessed using an operation that isa session started with a message that is an improved accuracy SecureUser Platform Location (SUPL) start message or a high precision SUPLINIT message. According to one embodiment, the message is a customcommand that is specific to the GNSS chipset 170 (also referred to as “aGNSS chipset custom command”) and by which the improved accuracy SUPLclient 101 can gain access to the raw measurements of the GNSS chipset170. Access may be controlled by the chipset manufacturer and a suitablekey made available for use in the SUPL for obtaining access to thepseudoranges. A suitable key is an example of a “custom command.”

A worker thread associated with the SUPL client 101 can monitor the rawmeasurements delivered by the GNSS chipset 170 into the GNSS chipset170's memory buffers, cache the raw measurements and use the rawmeasurements to determine a position fix. The pseudorange informationextractor logic 142 and the pseudorange information processing logic 150can be associated with the worker thread. For example, the pseudorangeinformation extractor logic 142 can cache the raw measurements and thepseudorange information processing logic 150 can determine the location.

According to one embodiment, a worker thread is a light weight processthat executes a specific sequence of tasks in the background. The taskscan be of long term and/or at times periodic in nature. The workerthread can assist in helping the main thread, which may also be referredto as the main program or main task, with specific functions. Workerthreads can be started when these functions of the sequence of tasks areto be executed. A worker thread can remain in the active state as longas its respective functions are being executed. A worker thread mayterminate itself, when it completes its functions or when it reaches apoint where it can no longer continue to function, for example, due toan irrecoverable error. A worker thread can post its status to the mainthread when it ends. Examples of posted status are completion ortermination. A worker thread may also post to the main thread the levelof progress of its functions periodically. At a given point in time,there may be many such worker threads in progress at the same time.Worker threads may maintain some sort of synchronization amongstthemselves depending upon the tasks they are intended for. The mainthread may terminate a worker thread, for example, when the functions ofthat worker thread are no longer needed or due to other executionchanges in the system.

According to one embodiment, the cellular device 100 can improve theaccuracy of the extracted pseudorange information. For example, thepseudorange information processing logic 150 can improve the accuracy ofthe extracted pseudorange information, as will become more evident.

The output of the pseudorange information processing logic 150 can beused for determining the location of the cellular device 100. Forexample, a latitude, longitude and altitude can be determined based onthe output of the pseudorange information processing logic 150, whichcan be displayed by the location displayer logic 162.

According to one embodiment, the pseudorange information bridger logic143 communicates the output from the pseudorange information processinglogic 150 to the location manager logic 161 in the operating system 160.According to one embodiment, the output of the pseudorange informationprocessing logic 150 is a location that is defined in terms of latitude,longitude, and altitude. The methods are well-known in the GPS arts. Thepseudoranges are used to first determine a location the WGS-84coordinate system of the Global Positioning System, and then convertedinto latitude, longitude, and elevation.

The location displayer logic 162 can display the location with respectto a digital representation of a map available, for example, from thirdparties via download to the cellular device.

FIG. 1B depicts a block diagram of a portion of a cellular device 100,100D for extracting pseudorange information, according to oneembodiment. The cellular device 100, 100D includes accessing-logic 110Band processing logic 150. The accessing logic 110B includes extractinglogic 112B and receiving logic 114B. The extracting logic 112B includespseudorange information extracting logic 142, satellite-basedaugmentation system (SBAS), extracting logic 112B-5, WAAS extractinglogic 112B-2, Doppler shift extracting logic 112B-3, and carrier phasemeasurement extracting logic 112B-4. According to one embodiment, WAASis an example of SBAS. According to one embodiment, SBAS extractinglogic 112B-5 includes WAAS extracting logic 112B-2.

Examples of satellite-based augmentation system (SBAS) are Indian GPSaided Geo Augmented Navigation System (GAGAN), European GeostationaryNavigation Overlay Service (EGNOS), Japanese Multi-functional SatelliteAugmentation System (MSAS), John Deere's StarFire, WAAS, and Trimble'sOmniStar.

As depicted in FIG. 1B, the pseudorange information processing logic 150includes pseudorange-correction-logic 151,pseudorange-carrier-phase-smoothing-logic 152, position accuracyimprovement determination logic 180B and determining position fix logic170B. Examples of “improving” are “smoothing” or “correcting,” or acombination thereof. The pseudorange-correction-logic 151 includes WAASlogic 151A, DGPS logic 151B, Precise Point Positioning (PPP) logic 151C,RTK logic 151D, VRS (Virtual Reference Station) logic 151E, and RTXlogic 151F. The pseudorange-carrier-phase-smoothing-logic 152 includesreal carrier phase logic 152A and reconstructed carrier phase logic152B. According to one embodiment, the accessing-logic 110B and theprocessing logic 150 reside in the improved accuracy SUPL client 101.

Examples of pseudorange information are extracted pseudoranges,corrected pseudoranges, smoothed pseudoranges, or a combination thereof,among other things. Examples of pseudorange corrections include WideArea Augmentation System (WAAS) corrections, Differential GlobalPositioning System (DGPS) corrections, Precise Point Positioning (PPP)corrections, Real Time Kinematic (RTK) corrections, and VirtualReference Station (VRS) corrections. Examples of carrier phaseinformation include real carrier phase and reconstructed carrier phaseinformation.

The extracting logic 112B can extract various types of information fromthe GNSS chipset 170, as discussed herein. For example, the extractinglogic 112B includes pseudorange information extracting logic 142, WAASextracting logic 112B-2, Doppler extracting logic 112B-3, and carrierphase measurement extracting logic 112B-4. According to one embodiment,the extracting logic 112B can be used to extract these various types ofinformation from the GNSS chipset 170 in a similar manner that thepseudorange information extractor logic 142 extracts pseudorangeinformation from the GNSS chipset 170, for example, using an SUPL Client101 that employs a command designed or provided by the manufacturer ofthe GNSS chipset 170, as described herein. More specifically, the WAASextracting logic 112B-2, the Doppler extracting logic 112B-3, andcarrier phase measurement extracting logic 112B-4 can employ commandsdesigned or provided by the manufacturer of the GNSS chipset 170 toextract respectively WAAS, Doppler information, and carrier phasemeasurements for real carrier phase information.

The receiving logic 1148 receives other types of information that arenot extracted from the GNSS chipset 170. The receiving logic 1148 canreceive the information in response to a request (also commonly known as“pulling”) or receive the information without the information beingrequested (also commonly known as “pushing”). “Obtaining” and“accessing” can be used interchangeably, according to variousembodiments.

Table 1 depicts the types of information that are extracted from theGNSS chipset or received without extraction, as discussed herein,according to various embodiments.

TABLE 1 Types of Information that are Extracted from the GNSS Chipset orReceived without Extraction Extracted Received Pseudorange InformationWAAS/SBAS Doppler Shift Information DGPS Carrier Phase Measurements forreal RTK carrier phase information WAAS/SBAS Not Applicable

The information depicted in the extracted column can be extracted fromthe GNSS chipset 170 using the SUPL client 101 in a manner similar toextracting pseudorange information, as discussed herein. WAAS may beextracted or received, for example, over the Internet. When this Dopplershift information is available but real carrier phase information isnot, the extracted Doppler shift information can be integrated byprocessor 109, for example, to reconstruct carrier phase information.Techniques for reconstructing carrier phase information from Dopplershift information are well known in the art. Any one or more of theinformation depicted in Table 1 can be processed by the cellular device100, for example, using the processor 109 that is outside of the GNSSchipset 170.

The pseudorange-carrier-phase-smoothing-logic 152 can smooth pseudorangeinformation by applying carrier phase information to the pseudorangeinformation.

The pseudorange-carrier-phase-smoothing-logic 152 receives rawpseudorange information from the accessing logic 1108. The carrier phaseinformation may be reconstructed carrier phase information or realcarrier phase information.

The pseudorange-correction-logic 151 can correct pseudorangeinformation. For example, the pseudorange-correction-logic 151 canreceive pseudorange information and apply pseudorange corrections to thepseudorange information. Examples of the pseudorange informationreceived by the pseudorange-correction-logic 151 include extractedpseudorange information, DGPS corrected pseudoranges, and smoothedpseudoranges that were smoothed, for example, using either real carrierphase information or reconstructed carrier phase information. Examplesof pseudorange corrections that can be applied to the receivedpseudorange information are WAAS corrections, DGPS corrections, PPPcorrections, RTK corrections and VRS corrections. The PPP logic 151Cperforms Precise Point Positioning (PPP) processing on pseudorangeinformation. According to one embodiment, RTX™ is proprietary form ofPPP developed by Trimble Navigation Limited. It should be appreciatedthat there are other forms of Precise Point Positioning which mayoperate using similar principles.

The pseudorange information processing logic 150 may also include adetermining position fix logic 170B that performs, for example, a leastsquares solution 171B can be performed after the extracted pseudorangeinformation is improved by the pseudorange-correction-logic 151 or thepseudorange-carrier-phase-smoothing-logic 152, or a combination thereofand prior to transmitting the output to the pseudorange informationbridger logic 143. According to one embodiment, the determining positionfix logic 170B resides in the processing logic 150. Least-squaressolution methods are well-known in the position determination arts.

According to one embodiment, extracted pseudorange information is passedfrom the extracting pseudorange information logic 142 to the smoothinglogic 152 where it is smoothed at either real carrier phase logic 152Aor reconstructed carrier phase logic 152B. According to one embodiment,the smoothed pseudorange information is communicated from the smoothinglogic 152 to the correcting logic 151 for further correction, where oneor more corrections may be performed. If a plurality of corrections isperformed, they can be performed in various combinations. If carrierphase smoothing is not possible, the extracted pseudorange informationcan be communicated from extracting pseudorange information logic 142 tocorrection logic 151. One or more of the logics 152A, 152B, 151A, 151E,151F in the processing logic 150 can communicate with any one or more ofthe logics 152A, 152B, 151A, 151E 151F in various orders andcombinations. Various embodiments are not limited to just thecombinations and orders that are described herein. According to oneembodiment, extracted pseudorange information may not be smoothed orcorrected. In this case, unsmoothed uncorrected pseudorange informationcan be communicated from logic 142 to logic 170B.

The cellular device 100 may also include aposition-accuracy-improvement-determination-logic 180B for determiningwhether to apply any improvements and if so, the one or more positionaccuracy improvements to apply to the extracted pseudorange information.For example, the cellular device 100 may be preconfigured based on thesignals that are available to the cellular device 100 or a user of thecellular device 100 may manually configure the cellular device 100. Forexample, the cellular device 100 can display the signals that areavailable to the user and the user can select which signals they desirefrom the displayed list of signals. The configuration information,whether preconfigured or manually configured by the user, can be storedfor example, in a look up table in the cellular device 100. Examples ofposition improvements that can be determined by the position accuracyimprovement determination logic 180B are real carrier phase information,reconstructed carrier phase information, WAAS, DGPS, PPP, RTX™, RTK andVRS. The position accuracy improvement determination logic 180B can beused to determine to reconstruct carrier phase information based onDoppler shift if real carrier phase information is not available, forexample. The position-accuracy-improvement-determination-logic 180B,according to one embodiment, is a part of the SUPL client 101.

Extracted pseudorange information without any additional improvementsprovides 4-5 meters of accuracy. Various combinations of positionaccuracy improvements can be applied to extracted pseudorangeinformation (EPI) according to various embodiments, where examples ofposition accuracy improvements include, but are not limited to, WideArea Augmentation System (WAAS) pseudorange corrections, DifferentialGPS (DGPS) pseudorange corrections, Precise Point Positioning (PPP)processing, RTX™, Real Time Kinematic (RTK), Virtual Reference Station(VRS) corrections, real carrier phase information (real CPI) smoothing,and reconstructed carrier phase information (reconstructed CPI)smoothing.

One or more of the logics 110B, 112B, 114B, 142, 112B-2, 112B-3, 180B,152, 152A, 152B, 151, 151Aj-151F, 170B, 171B can be executed, forexample, by the processor 109 of the cellular device 100 that is locatedoutside of the GNSS chipset 170.

Table 2 depicts combinations of information that result in a positionfix 172B, according to various embodiments. However, various embodimentsare not limited to the combinations depicted in Table 2.

TABLE 2 Combinations of Information that Result in a Position FixCombination Identifier Combinations of Information that Result in aPosition Fix 1 Extracted pseudorange information (EPI) 2 EPI + Real orReconstructed Carrier Phase Information (CPI) 3 EPI + CPI + WAAS 4 EPI +CPI + WAAS + DGPS 5 EPI + CPI + DGPS 6 EPI + CPI + DGPS + PPP 7 EPI +DGPS 8 EPI + DGPS + WAAS 9 EPI + DGPS + PPP 10 EPI + RTK 11 EPI + VRS

FIG. 1C depicts decision logic 151H for determining whether to applySBAS corrections 151G, WAAS corrections 151A, PPP corrections 151C, RTX™corrections 151F or DGPS corrections 151B, according to one embodiment.According to one embodiment, the SBAS corrections that are applied areWAAS corrections. According to one embodiment, the decision logic 151His located in the position accuracy improvement determination logic 180Bor the correction logic 151.

According to one embodiment, a first position is determined by anavailable means. For example, the first position may be based onuncorrected unsmoothed extracted pseudorange information, cellular towertriangulation, WiFi triangulation or other means. A level of precisionmay be selected, for example, by a user or preconfigured into thecellular device, where DGPS or one or more of SBAS, WAAS, RTX™, PPPwould be used to achieve that level of precision. The decision logic151H can access the level of precision and receive two or more referencestation locations by sending a message to a database enquiring aboutnearby reference stations for DGPS. The decision logic 151H candetermine the distance between the cellular device 100 and the nearestreference station. If the distance is greater than some selecteddistance threshold, the decision logic 151H can use PPP, RTX™, SBAS orWAAS, instead of DGPS. If the distance is less than the selecteddistance threshold, the decision logic 151H can use DGPS instead of PPP,RTX™, SBAS or WAAS. According to one embodiment, a range for a distancethreshold is approximately 20 to 60 miles. According to one embodiment,the distance threshold is approximately 60 miles.

If the decision logic 151H determines to apply DGPS corrections at DGPSlogic 151B resulting in DGPS corrected smoothed pseudoranges, furthercorrections can be made using the orbit-clock information contained inthe PPP corrections. For example, a position fix can be determined basedon the DGPS corrected smoothed pseudoranges and the PPP corrections. Theposition fix can be determined external to the GNSS chipset, forexample, at the processing logic 150.

The cellular device 100 may be configured with the distance threshold,for example, by the manufacturer of the cellular device 100 or by a userof the cellular device 100. The cellular device 100 may be configuredwith the distance threshold through service that is remote with respectto the cellular device 100 or may be configured locally. The distancethreshold can be selected based on a degree of position accuracy that isdesired.

FIG. 1D depicts a block diagram of a cellular device 100D for extractingpseudorange information, according to one embodiment.

As depicted in FIG. 1D, the GNSS chipset 170 is located on a system on achip (SOC) substrate (SOCS) 190.

As described herein, various information can be extracted from the GNSSreceiver 1130, such as pseudorange information, Doppler ShiftInformation, Real Carrier Phase Measurement, WAAS and SBAS. Other typesof processing information output by the GNSS receiver 1130 can beignored.

A Cell device 100D's hardware architecture includes discreet physicallayout and interconnection of multiple chipsets for processing and forspecial purposes such as a GNSS chipset 170. In addition, newerarchitectures involve further integration of chipsets in the “system ona chip” (SoC) configuration. In this configuration, the GNSS chipset 170can still be a complete element capable of delivering a PVT (positionvelocity and time) solution. However in an embodiment, the pseudorangeinformation, carrier phase, and/or Doppler measurements, along with WAAScorrections if available, are extracted prior to further signalprocessing in the GNSS chipset 170 and are processed using differentalgorithms and corrections data for developing an improved accuracy PVTsolution. In so doing the deleterious effects of multipath and othererror sources may be minimized. Further the GNSS chipset 170 outputs areignored and not displayed when the external processing is employed andthe higher-accuracy PVT data is available.

FIG. 2 depicts a block diagram of a set of correction delivery optionsfor providing positioning information to a cellular device forextracting pseudorange information, according to one embodiment.Examples of a cellular device 200 include a cell phone, a non-voiceenabled cellular device, and a mobile hand-held GNSS receiver. Thecellular device may be mobile or stationary.

The cellular device 200 includes a bus 216, a satellite receiver 206, aGNSS receiver 107, an FM radio receiver 208, a processor 109, memory210, a cellular transceiver 211, a display 212, audio 213, Wi-Fitransceiver 214, IMU 215, image capturing device 240, and operatingsystem 160. Components 206, 107, 208, 109, 210, 211, 212, 213, 214, 215,and 240 are all connected with the buss 216.

In FIG. 2, a plurality of broadcast sources is used to convey data andmedia to a cellular device 200. As an example, cellular device 200 canreceive broadcast signals from communication satellites 201 (e.g.,two-way radio, satellite-based cellular such as the Inmarsat or Iridiumcommunication networks, etc.), global navigation satellites 202 whichprovide radio navigation signals (e.g., the GPS, GNSS, GLONASS, GALILEO,BeiDou, Compass, etc.), and terrestrial radio broadcast (e.g., FM radio,AM radio, shortwave radio, etc.)

A cellular device 200 can be configured with a satellite radio receiver206 coupled with a communication bus 216 for receiving signals fromcommunication satellites 201, a GNSS receiver 107 coupled with bus 216for receiving radio navigation signals from global navigation satellites202 and for deriving a position of cellular device 200 based thereon.Cellular device 200 further comprises an FM radio receiver 208 coupledwith bus 216 for receiving broadcast signals from terrestrial radiobroadcast 203. Other components of cellular device 200 comprise aprocessor 109 coupled with bus 216 for processing information andinstructions, a memory 210 coupled with bus 216 for storing informationand instructions for processor 109. It is noted that memory 210 cancomprise volatile memory and non-volatile memory, as well as removabledata storage media in accordance with various embodiments. Cellulardevice 200 further comprises a cellular transceiver 211 coupled with bus216 for communicating via cellular network 222. Examples of cellularnetworks used by cellular device 200 include, but are not limited toGSM: cellular networks, GPRS cellular networks, GDMA cellular networks,and EDGE cellular networks. Cellular device 200 further comprises adisplay 212 coupled with bus 216. Examples of devices which can be usedas display 212 include, but are not limited to, liquid crystal displays,LED-based displays, and the like. It is noted that display 212 can beconfigured as a touch screen device (e.g., a capacitive touch screendisplay) for receiving inputs from a user as well as displaying data.Cellular device 200 further comprises an audio output 213 coupled withbus 216 for conveying audio information to a user. Cellular device 200further comprises a Wi-Fi transceiver 214 and an inertial measurementunit (IMU) 215 coupled with bus 216. Wi-Fi transceiver 114 may beconfigured to operate on any suitable wireless communication protocolincluding, but not limited to WiFi, WiMAX, implementations of the IEEE802.11 specification, implementations of the IEEE 802.15.4 specificationfor personal area networks, and a short range wireless connectionoperating in the Instrument Scientific and Medical (ISM) band of theradio frequency spectrum in the 2400-2484 MHz range (e.g.,implementations of the Bluetooth® standard).

Improvements in GNSS/GPS positioning may be obtained by using referencestations with a fixed receiver system to calculate corrections to themeasured pseudoranges in a given geographical region. Since thereference station is located in a fixed environment and its location canbe determined very precisely via ordinary survey methods, a processorassociated with the Reference Station GNSS/GPS receivers can determinemore precisely what the true pseudoranges should be to each satellite inview, based on geometrical considerations. Knowing the orbital positionsvia the GPS almanac as a function of time enables this process, firstproposed in 1983, and widely adopted ever since. The difference betweenthe observed pseudorange and the calculated pseudorange for a givenReference station is called the pseudorange correction. A set ofcorrections for all the global navigation satellites 202 in view iscreated second by second, and stored, and made available as a service,utilizing GPS/GNSS reference stations 220 and correction services 221.The pseudoranges at both the cellular device 200 GPS receiver 107 andthose at the reference stations 220 are time-tagged, so the correctionsfor each and every pseudorange measurement can be matched to the localcell phone pseudoranges. The overall service is often referred to asDifferential GPS, or DGPS. Without any corrections, GNSS/GPS receiversproduce position fixes with absolute errors in position on the order of4.5 to 5.5 m per the GPS SPS Performance Standard, 4^(th) Ed. 2008. InFIG. 2, one or more correction services 221 convey these corrections viaa cellular network 222, or the Internet 223. Internet 223 is in turncoupled with a local Wi-Fi network 224 which can convey the correctionsto cellular device 200 via Wi-Fi transceiver 214. Alternatively,cellular network 222 can convey the corrections to cellular device 200via cellular transceiver 211. In some embodiments, correction services221 are also coupled with a distribution service 225 which conveys thecorrections to an FM radio distributor 226. FM radio distributor 226 canbroadcast corrections as a terrestrial radio broadcast 103. It should beappreciated that an FM signal is being described as a subset of possibleterrestrial radio broadcasts which may be in a variety of bands andmodulated in a variety of manners. In some embodiments, cellular device200 includes one or more integral terrestrial radio antennas associatedwith integrated terrestrial receivers; FM radio receiver 208 is oneexample of such a terrestrial receiver which would employ an integratedantenna designed to operate in the correct frequency band for receivinga terrestrial radio broadcast 103. In this manner, in some embodiments,cellular device 200 can receive the corrections via FM radio receiver208 (or other applicable type of integrated terrestrial radio receiver).In some embodiments, correction services 221 are also coupled with adistribution service 225 which conveys the corrections to a satelliteradio distributor 227. Satellite radio distributor 227 can broadcastcorrections as a broadcast from one or more communications satellites201. In some embodiments, cellular device 200 includes one or moreintegral satellite radio antennas associated with integrated satelliteradio receivers 206. Satellite radio receiver 206 is one example of sucha satellite receiver which would employ an integrated antenna designedto operate in the correct frequency band for receiving a corrections orother information broadcast from communication satellites 201. In thismanner, in some embodiments, cellular device 200 can receive thecorrections via satellite radio receiver 206.

Examples of a correction source that provides pseudorange correctionsare at least correction service 221, FM radio distribution 226, orsatellite radio distributor 227, or a combination thereof. According toone embodiment, a correction source is located outside of the cellulardevice 200.

Examples of image capturing device 240 are a camera, a video camera, adigital camera, a digital video camera, a digital camcorder, a stereodigital camera, a stereo video camera, a motion picture camera, and atelevision camera. The image capturing device 240 may use a lens or be apinhole type device.

The blocks that represent features in FIGS. 1A-2 can be arrangeddifferently than as illustrated, and can implement additional or fewerfeatures than what are described herein. Further, the featuresrepresented by the blocks in FIGS. 1A-2 can be combined in various ways.A cellular device 100, 200 (FIGS. 1A-3) can be implemented usingsoftware, hardware, hardware and software, hardware and firmware, or acombination thereof. Further, unless specified otherwise, variousembodiments that are described as being a part of the cellular device100, 200, whether depicted as a part of the cellular device 100, 200 ornot, can be implemented using software, hardware, hardware and software,hardware and firmware, software and firmware, or a combination thereof.Various blocks in FIGS. 1A-2 refer to features that are logic, such asbut not limited to, 150, 180B, 152, 152A, 152B, 151, 151A-151G, 170B,which can be;implemented using software, hardware, hardware andsoftware, hardware and firmware, software and firmware, or a combinationthereof.

The cellular device 100, 200, according to one embodiment, includeshardware, such as the processor 109, memory 210, and the GNSS chipset170. An example of hardware memory 210 is a physically tangible computerreadable storage medium, such as, but not limited to a disk, a compactdisk (CD), a digital versatile device (DVD), random access memory (RAM)or read only memory (ROM) for storing instructions. An example of ahardware processor 109 for executing instructions is a centralprocessing unit. Examples of instructions are computer readableinstructions for implementing at least the SUPL Client 101 that can bestored on a hardware memory 210 and that can be executed, for example,by the hardware processor 109. The SUPL client 101 may be implemented ascomputer readable instructions, firmware or hardware, such as circuitry,or a combination thereof.

Pseudorange Information

A GNSS receiver 107 (also referred to as a “receiver”), according tovarious embodiments, makes a basic measurement that is the apparenttransit time of the signal from a satellite to the receiver, which canbe defined as the difference between signal reception time, asdetermined by the receiver's clock, and the transmission time at thesatellite, as marked in the signal. This basic measurement can bemeasured as the amount of time shift required to align the C/A-codereplica generated at the receiver with the signal received from thesatellite. This measurement may be biased due to a lack ofsynchronization between the satellite and receiver clock because eachkeeps time independently. Each satellite generates a respective signalin accordance using a clock on board. The receiver generates a replicaof each signal using its own clock. The corresponding biased range, alsoknown as a pseudorange, can be defined as the transit time so measuredmultiplied by the speed of light in a vacuum.

There are three time scales, according to one embodiment. Two of thetime scales are the times kept by the satellite and receiver clocks. Athird time scale is a common time reference, GPS Time (GPST), also knownas a composite time scale that can be derived from the times kept byclocks at GPS monitor stations and aboard the satellites.

Let T be the transit time associated with a specific code transition ofthe signal from a satellite received at time t per GPST. The measuredapparent range r, called pseudorange, can be determined from theapparent transmit time using equation 1 as follows:

measured pseudorange at (t)=c[arrival time at (t)−emission time at (t−T)].  Eq. 1

Both t and T are unknown, and can be estimated. In this discussion ofpseudoranges, measurements from a GPS satellite are dealt with in ageneric way to make the notation simple, making no reference to thesatellite ID or carrier frequency (L1 or L2).

Equations 2 and 3 depict how to relate the time scales of the receiverand the satellite clocks with GPST:

arrival time at (t)=t+receiver clock at (t)  eq. 2

arrival time at (t− T)=(t− T)+satellite clock error at (t− T)  eq. 3

where receiver clock error represents the receiver 304's clock bias 303and satellite clock error represents the bias 301 in the satellite 305'sclock, and both the receiver clock and the satellite clock are measuredrelative to GPST 302, as shown in FIG. 3. Receiver clock error andsatellite clock error represent the amounts by which the satellite 305and receiver 304 clocks are advanced in relation to GPST. The satelliteclock error 301 is estimated by the Control Segment and specified interms of the coefficients of a quadratic polynomial in time. The valuesof these coefficients can be broadcast in the navigation message.

Accounting for the clock biases, the measured pseudorange (eq. 1) can bewritten as indicated in equation 4:

PR(t)=c[t+receiver clock error at (t)−(t− T+satellite clock error at (t−T))]+miscellaneous errors at (t)=c T +c[receiver clock errors at (t)−satellite clock error at (t− T)]+miscellaneous errors at (t)  eq. 4

where miscellaneous errors represent unmodeled effects, modeling error,and measurement error. The transmit time multiplied by the speed oflight in a vacuum can be modeled as satellite position at (t−T).Ionosphere error and troposphere error reflect the delays associatedwith the transmission of the signal respectively through the ionosphereand the troposphere. Both ionosphere error and troposphere error arepositive.

For simplicity, explicitly reference to the measurement epoch t has beendropped, and the model has been rewritten for the measured pseudorangeas indicated in equation 5.

PR=r+[receiver clock error−satellite clock error]+ionosphereerror+troposphere error+miscellaneous errors  eq. 5

where PR is the measured pseudorange, r is the true range from thereceiver to the satellite, receiver clock error is the differencebetween the receiver clock and the GPSTIME, satellite clock error is thedifference between the satellite clock and GPSTIME, GPSTIME isultimately determined at the receiver as part of the least squaredsolution determined by the least squares solution 171B so that all clockerrors can be resolved to some level of accuracy as part of the positiondetermination process, and miscellaneous errors include receiver noise,multipath and the like.

At least one source of error is associated with satellite positions inspace. The navigation message in the GPS signal contains Keplerianparameters which define orbital mechanics mathematics and, thus, thepositions of the satellites as a function of time. One component of WAASand RTX™ contains adjustments to these parameters, which form part ofthe constants used in solving for the position fix at a given time.Taking account of the corrections is well-known in the GPS positiondetermining arts.

Ideally, the true range r to the satellite is measured. Instead, what isavailable is PR, the pseudorange, which is a biased and noisymeasurement of r. The accuracy of an estimated position, velocity, ortime, which is obtained from these measurements, depends upon theability to compensate for, or eliminate, the biases and errors.

The range to a satellite is approximately 20,000 kilometers (km) whenthe satellite is overhead, and approximately 26,000 km when thesatellite is rising or setting. The signal transit time varies betweenabout 70 millisecond (ms) and 90 ms. The C/A-code repeats eachmillisecond, and the code correlation process essentially provides ameasurement of pseudo-transmit time modulo 1 ms. The measurement can beambiguous in whole milliseconds. This ambiguity, however, is easilyresolved if the user has a rough idea of his location within hundreds ofkilometers. The week-long P(Y)-code provides unambiguous pseudoranges.

The receiver clocks are generally basic quartz crystal oscillators andtend to drift. The receiver manufacturers attempt to limit the deviationof the receiver clock from GPST, and schedule the typicalonce-per-second measurements at epochs that are within plus or minus 1millisecond (ms) of the GPST seconds. One approach to maintaining thereceiver clock within a certain range of GPST is to steer the receiverclock ‘continuously.’ The steering can be implemented with software. Thesecond approach is to let the clock drift until it reaches a certainthreshold (typically 1 ms), and then reset it with a jump to return thebias to zero.

An example of pseudorange measurements with a receiver using the secondapproach shall now be described in more detail. Assume that there arepseudorange measurements from three satellites which rose about the sametime but were in different orbits. Assume that one comes overhead andstays in view for almost seven hours. Assume that the other two staylower in the sky and could be seen for shorter periods. There arediscontinuities common to all three sets of measurements due to theresetting of the receiver clock. A determination can be made as towhether the receiver clock is running fast or slow, and its frequencyoffset from the nominal value of 10.23 megahertz (MHz) can be estimated.

For more information on pseudorange information, refer to “GlobalPositioning Systems,” by Pratap Misra and Per Eng, Ganga-Jamuna Press,2001; ISBN 0-9709544-0-9.

Position Accuracy Improvements

The pseudorange information processing logic 150 can include varioustypes of logic for improving the position accuracy of the extractedpseudorange information, as described herein. Table 2, as describedherein, depicts various combinations of position accuracy improvementsfor improving extracted pseudorange information, according to variousembodiments. Table 3 also depicts various combinations of positionaccuracy improvements for improving extracted pseudorange information,according to various embodiments.

TABLE 3 Various Combinations of Position Accuracy Improvements forImproving Extracted Pseudorange Information Combination IdentifierOperation Description Accuracy 1 620 (FIG. 6) Extracted 4-5 meters (m)Pseudorange Information (EPI) 2 720A (FIG. EPI + WAAS approx. 1.7 m 7A)3 FIG. 7B EPI + <1 m reconstructed CPI + WAAS 4 820A (FIG. EPI + DGPS ~1 m 8A) 5 830A (FIG. EPI + DGPS + <1 m 8A) WAAS 6 820B, 822B, EPI + <1 m830B, 840B reconstructed FIG. 8B CPI + DGPS + WAAS 7 820B, 824B, EPI +real <1 m 830B, 840B CPI + (FIG. 8B) DGPS + WAAS 8 920A (FIG. EPI + PPP<1 m 9A) 9 930A (FIG. EPI + PPP + <1 m 9A) DGPS 10 FIG. 9B EPI + <1 mreconstructed CPI + PPP + DGPS 11 1020 and 1030 EPI + CPI + <<1 m (FIG.10) PPP 12 1040 (FIG. 10) EPI + CPI + approx. 10 cm PPP + DGPS 13 EPI +RTK approx. 2-10 cm

Table 3 includes columns for combination identifier, operation,description, and accuracy. The combination identifier column indicatesan identifier for each combination of improvements. The operation columnspecifies operations of various flowcharts in FIGS. 6-10 for thecorresponding combination. The description column specifies variouscombinations of position accuracy improvements that can be applied toextracted pseudorange information (EPI) according to variousembodiments, where examples of position accuracy improvements include,but are not limited to, Wide Area Augmentation System (WAAS) pseudorangecorrections, real carrier phase smoothing (real CPI) information,reconstructed carrier phase smoothing information (reconstructed CPI),Differential GPS (DGPS) pseudorange corrections, and Precise PointPositioning (PPP) processing. The accuracy column specifies levels ofaccuracy provided by the corresponding combination.

Combination 1 is extracted pseudorange information without anyadditional improvements, which provides 4-5 meters of accuracy.Combination 1 is described in Table 3 to provide a comparison with theother combinations 2-13.

According to one embodiment, the SUPL client 101 can also include aposition-accuracy-improvement-determination-logic 1808 for determiningthe one or more position accuracy improvements to apply to the extractedpseudorange information based on one or more factors such as cost,quality of service, and one or more characteristics of the cellulardevice. For example, different costs are associated with differentposition accuracy improvements. More specifically, extracted pseudorangeinformation, WAAS and Doppler information are typically free. There is alow cost typically associated with DGPS and real carrier phaseinformation. There is typically a higher cost associated with PPP.Therefore, referring to Table 3, according to one embodiment,combinations 1, 2, and 3 are typically free, combinations 4-7 typicallyare low cost, and combinations 8-12 are typically higher cost.

Various cellular devices have different characteristics that make themcapable of providing different types of position accuracy improvements.For example, one type of cellular device may be capable of providingWAAS but not be capable of providing Doppler information. In anotherexample, some types of cellular devices may be capable of providing DGPSbut not capable of providing PPP. In yet another example, differentactivities may require different levels of improvement. For example,some activities and/or people may be satisfied with 4-5 meters, othersmay be satisfied with 1.7 meters. Yet others may be satisfied with lessthan 1 meter, and still others may only be satisfied with 2 centimeters.Therefore, different users may request different levels of accuracy.

Table 4 depicts sources of the various position accuracy improvements,according to various embodiments.

TABLE 4 Sources of the Various Position Accuracy Improvements PositionAccuracy Improvement Name Source Pseudorange Information extracted fromGNSS chipset WAAS extracted from GNSS chipset or satellite broadcast viaInternet or radio delivery Real Carrier Phase Information extracted fromGNSS chipset Doppler for reconstructing extracted from GNSS chipsetcarrier phase information Differential Global Positioning from areference station delivered by System (DGPS) dialing up, wired/wirelessinternet/intranet connection, or by receiving a broadcast subcarriermodulation concatenated to an FM carrier frequency. DGPS can be obtainedat least from Trimble ® Real Time Kinematic (RTK) from a referencestation

The first column of Table 4 provides the name of the position accuracyimprovement. The second column of Table 4 specifies the source for thecorresponding position accuracy improvement.

According to various embodiments, a cellular device 100, 200 caninitially provide a position that is within 4-5 meters using, forexample, unimproved extracted pseudorange information and the positioncan continually be improved, using various position accuracyimprovements as described herein, as long as the antennae of thecellular device 100, 200 is clear of obstructions to receive variousposition accuracy improvements.

The following describes various position accuracy improvements andrelated topics in more detail.

Global Navigation Satellite Systems

A Global Navigation Satellite System (GNSS) is a navigation system thatmakes use of a constellation of satellites orbiting the earth to providesignals to a receiver, such as GNSS receiver 107, which estimates itsposition relative to the earth from those signals. Examples of suchsatellite systems are the NAVSTAR Global Positioning System (GPS)deployed and maintained by the United States, the GLObal NAvigationSatellite System (GLONASS) deployed by the Soviet Union and maintainedby the Russian Federation, and the GALILEO system currently beingdeployed by the European Union (EU).

Each GPS satellite transmits continuously using two radio frequencies inthe L-band, referred to as L1 and L2, at respective frequencies of1575.41 MHz and 1227.60 MHz. Two signals are transmitted on L1, one forcivil users and the other for users authorized by the Unites StatesDepartment of Defense (DoD). One signal is transmitted on L2, intendedonly for DoD-authorized users. Each GPS signal has a carrier at the L1and L2 frequencies, a pseudo-random number (PRN) code, and satellitenavigation data.

Two different PRN codes are transmitted by each satellite: A coarseacquisition (C/A) code and a precision (P/Y) code which is encrypted foruse by authorized users. A receiver, such as GNSS receiver 107, designedfor precision positioning contains multiple channels, each of which cantrack the signals on both L1 and L2 frequencies from a GPS satellite inview above the horizon at the receiver antenna, and from these computesthe observables for that satellite comprising the L1 pseudorange,possibly the L2 pseudorange and the coherent L1 and L2 carrier phases.Coherent phase tracking implies that the carrier phases from twochannels assigned to the same satellite and frequency will differ onlyby an integer number of cycles.

Each GLONASS satellite transmits continuously using two radio frequencybands in the L-band, also referred to as L1 and L2. Each satellitetransmits on one of multiple frequencies within the L1 and L2 bandsrespectively centered at frequencies of 1602.0 MHz and 1246.0 MHz. Thecode and carrier signal structure is similar to that of NAVSTAR. A GNSSreceiver designed for precision positioning contains multiple channelseach of which can track the signals from both GPS and GLONASS satelliteson their respective L1 and L2 frequencies, and generate pseudorange andcarrier phase observables from these. Future generations of GNSSreceivers will include the ability to track signals from all deployedGNSSs.

Differential Global Positioning System (DGPS)

Differential GPS (DGPS) utilizes a reference station which is located ata surveyed position to gather data and deduce corrections for thevarious error contributions which reduce the precision of determining aposition fix. For example, as the GPS signals pass through theionosphere and troposphere, propagation delays may occur. Other factorswhich may reduce the precision of determining a position fix may includesatellite clock errors, GPS receiver clock errors, and satelliteposition errors (ephemerides). The reference station receivesessentially the same GPS signals as cellular devices 100, 200 which mayalso be operating in the area. However, instead of using the timingsignals from the GPS satellites to calculate its position, it uses itsknown position to calculate timing. In other words, the referencestation determines what the timing signals from the GPS satellitesshould be in order to calculate the position at which the referencestation is known to be. The difference in timing can be expressed interms of pseudorange lengths, in meters. The difference between thereceived GPS signals and what they optimally should be is used as anerror correction factor for other GPS receivers in the area. Typically,the reference station broadcasts the error correction to, for example, acellular device 100, 200 which uses this data to determine its positionmore precisely. Alternatively, the error corrections may be stored forlater retrieval and correction via post-processing techniques.

DGPS corrections cover errors caused by satellite clocks, ephemeris, andthe atmosphere in the form of ionosphere errors and troposphere errors.The nearer a DGPS reference station is to the receiver 107 the moreuseful the DGPS corrections from that reference station will be.

The system is called DGPS when GPS is the only constellation used forDifferential GNSS. DGPS provides an accuracy on the order of 1 meter or1 sigma for users in a range that is approximately in a few tens ofkilometers (kms) from the reference station and growing at the rate of 1m per 150 km of separation. DGPS is one type of Differential GNSS(DGNSS) technique. There are other types of DGNSS techniques, such asRTK and Wide Area RTK (WARTK), that can be used by high-precisionapplications for navigation or surveying that can be based on usingcarrier phase measurements. It should be appreciated that other DGNSSwhich may utilize signals from other constellations besides the GPSconstellation or from combinations of constellations. Embodimentsdescribed herein may be employed with other DGNSS techniques besidesDGPS.

A variety of different techniques may be used to deliver differentialcorrections that are used for DGNSS techniques. In one example, DGNSScorrections are broadcast over an FM subcarrier. U.S. Pat. No. 5,477,228by Tiwari et al. describes a system for delivering differentialcorrections via FM subcarrier broadcast method, the contents of whichare incorporated herein by reference.

Real-Time Kinematic System

An improvement to DGPS methods is referred to as Real-time Kinematic(RTK). As in the DGPS method, the RTK method, utilizes a referencestation located at determined or surveyed point. The reference stationcollects data from the same set of satellites in view by the cellulardevice 100, 200 in the area. Measurements of GPS signal errors taken atthe reference station (e.g., dual-frequency code and carrier phasesignal errors) and broadcast to one or more cellular devices 100, 200working in the area. The one or more cellular devices 100, 200 combinethe reference station data with locally collected position measurementsto estimate local carrier-phase ambiguities, thus allowing a moreprecise determination of the cellular device 100, 200's position. TheRTK method is different from DGPS methods in that the vector from areference station to a cellular device 100, 200 is determined (e.g.,using the double differences method). In DGPS methods, referencestations are used to calculate the changes needed in each pseudorangefor a given satellite in view of the reference station, and the cellulardevice 100, 200, to correct for the various error contributions. Thus,DGPS systems broadcast pseudorange correction numbers second-by-secondfor each satellite in view, or store the data for later retrieval asdescribed above.

RTK allows surveyors to determine a true surveyed data point in realtime, while taking the data. However, the range of useful correctionswith a single reference station is typically limited to about 70 kmbecause the variable in propagation delay (increase in apparent pathlength from satellite to a receiver of the cellular device 100, 200, orpseudo range) changes significantly for separation distances beyond 70km. This is because the ionosphere is typically not homogeneous in itsdensity of electrons, and because the electron density may change basedon, for example, the sun's position and therefore time of day.

Thus for surveying or other positioning systems which must work overlarger regions, the surveyor must either place additional base stationsin the regions of interest, or move his base stations from place toplace. This range limitation has led to the development of more complexenhancements that have superseded the normal RTK operations describedabove, and in some cases eliminated the need for a base station GPSreceiver altogether. This enhancement is referred to as the “NetworkRTK” or “Virtual Reference Station” (VRS) system and method.

FIG. 4 depicts a flowchart 400 for determining an RTK position solution,according to one embodiment. At 410, the method begins. The inputs tothe method are reference station network or VRS corrections 412 and GNSSpseudorange plus carrier phase information from the cellular device 414.At 420, reference corrections and cellular device data are synchronizedand corrections are applied to the GNSS data for atmospheric models andso on. The output of 420 is synchronized GNSS data 422, which isreceived by operation 430. At 430, position, carrier phase ambiguitiesin floating point, and nuisance parameters are estimated. The output 432of 430 is user position plus carrier phase ambiguities in floatingpoint. Operation 440 receives the output 432 and produces improveduser-position estimates using the integer-nature of carrier phaseambiguities. The output 442 of 440 is an RTK position solution, whichcan be used according to various embodiments. The method ends at 450.

Network RTK

Network RTK typically uses three or more GPS reference stations tocollect GPS data and extract information about the atmospheric andsatellite ephemeris errors affecting signals within the network coverageregion. Data from all the various reference stations is transmitted to acentral processing facility, or control center for Network RTK. Suitablesoftware at the control center processes the reference station data toinfer how atmospheric and/or satellite ephemeris errors vary over theregion covered by the network.

The control center computer processor then applies a process whichinterpolates the atmospheric and/or satellite ephemeris errors at anygiven point within the network coverage area and generates a pseudorange correction comprising the actual pseudo ranges that can be used tocreate a virtual reference station. The control center then performs aseries of calculations and creates a set of correction models thatprovide the cellular device 100, 200 with the means to estimate theionospheric path delay from each satellite in view from the cellulardevice 100, 200, and to take account other error contributions for thosesame satellites at the current instant in time for the cellular device100, 200's location.

The cellular device 100, 200 is configured to couple a data-capablecellular telephone to its internal signal processing system. The useroperating the cellular device 100, 200 determines that he needs toactivate the VRS process and initiates a call to the control center tomake a connection with the processing computer.

The cellular device 100, 200 sends its approximate position, based onraw GPS data from the satellites in view without any corrections, to thecontrol center. Typically, this approximate position is accurate toapproximately 4-7 meters. The user then requests a set of “modeledobservables” for the specific location of the cellular device 100, 200.The control center performs a series of calculations and creates a setof correction models that provide the cellular device 100, 200 with themeans to estimate the ionospheric path delay from each satellite in viewfrom the cellular device 100, 200, and to take into account other errorcontributions for those same satellites at the current instant in timefor the cellular device 100, 200's location. In other words, thecorrections for a specific cellular device 100, 200 at a specificlocation are determined on command by the central processor at thecontrol center and a corrected data stream is sent from the controlcenter to the cellular device 100, 200. Alternatively, the controlcenter may instead send atmospheric and ephemeris corrections to thecellular device 100, 200 which then uses that information to determineits position more precisely.

These corrections are now sufficiently precise that the high performanceposition accuracy standard of 2-3 cm may be determined, in real time,for any arbitrary cellular device 100, 200's position. Thus a GPSenabled cellular device 100, 200's raw GPS data fix can be corrected toa degree that makes it behave as if it were a surveyed referencelocation; hence the terminology “virtual reference station.”

An example of a network RTK system in accordance with embodiments of thepresent invention is described in U.S. Pat. No. 5,899,957, entitled“Carrier Phase Differential GPS Corrections Network,” by Peter Loomis,assigned to the assignee of the present invention and incorporated asreference herein in its entirety.

The Virtual Reference Station method extends the allowable distance fromany reference station to the cellular devices 100, 200. Referencestations may now be located hundreds of miles apart, and corrections canbe generated for any point within an area surrounded by referencestations. However, there are many construction projects where cellularcoverage is not available over the entire physical area underconstruction and survey.

Virtual Reference Stations

To achieve very accurate positioning (to several centimeters or less) ofa terrestrial mobile platform of a cellular device 100, 200, relative ordifferential positioning methods are commonly employed. These methodsuse a GNSS reference receiver located at a known position, in additionto the data from a GNSS receiver 107 on the mobile platform, to computethe estimated position of the mobile platform relative to the referencereceiver.

The most accurate known method uses relative GNSS carrier phaseinterferometry between the GNSS cellular device 100, 200's receiver andGNSS reference receiver antennas plus resolution of integer wavelengthambiguities in the differential phases to achieve centimeter-levelpositioning accuracies. These differential GNSS methods are predicatedon the near exact correlation of several common errors in the cellulardevice 100, 200 and reference observables. They include ionosphere andtroposphere signal delay errors, satellite orbit and clock errors, andreceiver clock errors.

When the baseline length between the mobile platform and the referencereceiver does not exceed 10 kilometers, which is normally considered ashort baseline condition, the ionosphere and troposphere signal delayerrors in the observables from the cellular device 100, 200 andreference receivers are almost exactly the same. These atmospheric delayerrors therefore cancel in the cellular device 100, 200's referencedifferential GNSS observables, and the carrier phase ambiguityresolution process required for achieving centimeter-level relativepositioning accuracy is not perturbed by them. If the baseline lengthincreases beyond 10 kilometers (considered a long baseline condition),these errors at the cellular device 100, 200 and reference receiverantennas become increasingly different, so that their presence in thecellular device 100, 200's-reference differential GNSS observables andtheir influence on the ambiguity resolution process increases. Ambiguityresolution on single cellular device 100, 200's reference receiverbaselines beyond 10 kilometers becomes increasingly unreliable. Thisattribute limits the precise resolution of a mobile platform withrespect to a single reference receiver, and essentially makes itunusable on a mobile mapping platform that covers large distances aspart of its mission, such as an aircraft.

A network GNSS method computes the estimated position of a cellulardevice 100, 200's receiver using reference observables from three ormore reference receivers that approximately surround the cellular device100, 200's receiver trajectory. This implies that the cellular device100, 200's receiver trajectory is mostly contained by a closed polygonwhose vertices are the reference receiver antennas. The cellular device100, 200's receiver 107 can move a few kilometers outside this polygonwithout significant loss of positioning accuracy. A network GNSSalgorithm calibrates the ionosphere and troposphere signal delays ateach reference receiver position and then interpolates and possiblyextrapolates these to the cellular device 100, 200's position to achievebetter signal delay cancellation on long baselines than could be hadwith a single reference receiver. Various methods of signal processingcan be used, however they all yield essentially the same performanceimprovement on long baselines.

Kinematic ambiguity resolution (KAR) satellite navigation is a techniqueused in numerous applications requiring high position accuracy. KAR isbased on the use of carrier phase measurements of satellite positioningsystem signals, where a single reference station provides the real-timecorrections with high accuracy. KAR combines the L1 and L2 carrierphases from the cellular device 100, 200 and reference receivers so asto establish a relative phase interferometry position of the cellulardevice 100, 200's antenna with respect to the reference antenna. Acoherent L1 or L2 carrier phase observable can be represented as aprecise pseudorange scaled by the carrier wavelength and biased by aninteger number of unknown cycles known as cycle ambiguities.Differential combinations of carrier phases from the cellular device100, 200 and reference receivers result in the cancellation of allcommon mode range errors except the integer ambiguities. An ambiguityresolution algorithm uses redundant carrier phase observables from thecellular device 100, 200 and reference receivers, and the knownreference antenna position, to estimate and thereby resolve theseambiguities.

Once the integer cycle ambiguities are known, the cellular device 100,200's receiver 107 can compute its antenna position with accuraciesgenerally on the order of a few centimeters, provided that the cellulardevice 100, 200 and reference antennas are not separated by more than 10kilometers. This method of precise positioning performed in real-time iscommonly referred to as real-time kinematic (RTK) positioning. Theseparation between a cellular device 100, 200 and reference antennasshall be referred to as “cellular device reference separation.”

The reason for the cellular device-reference separation constraint isthat KAR positioning relies on near exact correlation of atmosphericsignal delay errors between the cellular device 100, 200 and referencereceiver observables, so that they cancel in the cellular device 100,200's reference observables combinations (for example, differencesbetween cellular device 100, 200 and reference observables persatellite). The largest error in carrier-phase positioning solutions isintroduced by the ionosphere, a layer of charged gases surrounding theearth. When the signals radiated from the satellites penetrate theionosphere on their way to the ground-based receivers, they experiencedelays in their signal travel times and shifts in their carrier phases.A second significant source of error is the troposphere delay. When thesignals radiated from the satellites penetrate the troposphere on theirway to the ground-based receivers, they experience delays in theirsignal travel times that are dependent on the temperature, pressure andhumidity of the atmosphere along the signal paths. Fast and reliablepositioning requires good models of the spatio-temporal correlations ofthe ionosphere and troposphere to correct for these non-geometricinfluences.

When the cellular device 100, 200 reference separation exceeds 10kilometers, as maybe the case when the cellular device 100, 200 has aGNSS receiver 107 that is a LEO satellite receiver, the atmosphericdelay errors become de-correlated and do not cancel exactly. Theresidual errors can now interfere with the ambiguity resolution processand thereby make correct ambiguity resolution and precise positioningless reliable.

The cellular device 100, 200's reference separation constraint has madeKAR positioning with a single reference receiver unsuitable for certainmobile positioning applications where the mission of the mobile platformof the cellular device 100, 200 will typically exceed this constraint.One solution is to set up multiple reference receivers along the mobileplatform's path so that at least one reference receiver falls within a10 km radius of the mobile platform's estimated position.

Network GNSS methods using multiple reference stations of known locationallow correction terms to be extracted from the signal measurements.Those corrections can be interpolated to all locations within thenetwork. Network KAR is a technique that can achieve centimeter-levelpositioning accuracy on large project areas using a network of referenceGNSS receivers. This technique operated in real-time is commonlyreferred to as network RTK. The network KAR algorithm combines thepseudorange and carrier phase observables from the reference receiversas well as their known positions to compute calibrated spatial andtemporal models of the ionosphere and troposphere signal delays over theproject area. These calibrated models provide corrections to theobservables from the cellular device 100, 200's receiver, so that thecellular device 100, 200's receiver 107 can perform reliable ambiguityresolution on combinations of carrier phase observables from thecellular device 100, 200 and some or all reference receivers. The numberof reference receivers required to instrument a large project area issignificantly less than what would be required to compute reliablesingle baseline KAR solutions at any point in the project area. See, forexample, U.S. Pat. No. 5,477,458, “Network for Carrier PhaseDifferential GPS Corrections,” and U.S. Pat. No. 5,899,957, “CarrierPhase Differential GPS Corrections Network”. See also Liwen Dai et al.,“Comparison of Interpolation Algorithms in Network-Based GPSTechniques,” Journal of the Institute of Navigation, Vol. 50, No. 4(Winter 1003-1004) for a comparison of different network GNSSimplementations and comparisons of their respective performances.

A virtual reference station (VRS) network method is a particularimplementation of a network GNSS method that is characterized by themethod by which it computes corrective data for the purpose of cellulardevice 100, 200's position accuracy improvement. A VRS network methodcomprises a VRS corrections generator and a single-baseline differentialGNSS position generator such as a GNSS receiver 107 with differentialGNSS capability. The VRS corrections generator has as input data thepseudorange and carrier phase observables on two or more frequenciesfrom N reference receivers, each tracking signals from M GNSSsatellites. The VRS corrections generator outputs a single set of Mpseudorange and carrier phase observables that appear to originate froma virtual reference receiver at a specified position (hereafter calledthe VRS position) within the boundaries of the network defined by apolygon (or projected polygon) having all or some of the N referencereceivers as vertices. The dominant observables errors comprising areceiver clock error, satellite clock errors, ionosphere and tropospheresignal delay errors and noise all appear to be consistent with the VRSposition. The single-baseline differential GNSS position generatorimplements a single-baseline differential GNSS position algorithm, ofwhich numerous examples have been described in the literature. B.Hofmann-Wellenhof et al., Global Positioning System: Theory andPractice, 5th Edition, 1001 (hereinafter “Hofmann-Wellenhof [1001]”),gives comprehensive descriptions of different methods of differentialGNSS position computation, ranging in accuracies from one meter to a fewcentimeters. The single-baseline differential GNSS position algorithmtypically computes differences between the cellular device 100, 200 andreference receiver observables to cancel atmospheric delay errors andother common mode errors such as orbital and satellite clock errors. TheVRS position is usually specified to be close to or the same as theroving receiver's estimated position so that the actual atmosphericerrors in the cellular device 100, 200 receiver 107's observablesapproximately cancel the estimated atmospheric errors in the VRSobservables in the cellular device 100, 200's reference observablesdifferences.

The VRS corrections generator computes the synthetic observables at eachsampling epoch (typically once per second) from the geometric rangesbetween the VRS position and the M satellite positions as computed usingwell-known algorithms such as those given in IS-GPS-200G interfacespecification tilted “Navstar GPS Space Segment/Navigation UserInterfaces,” and dated 5 Sep. 2012. It estimates the typical pseudorangeand phase errors comprising receiver clock error, satellite clockerrors, ionospheric and tropospheric signal delay errors and noise,applicable at the VRS position from the N sets of M observablesgenerated by the reference receivers, and adds these to the syntheticobservables.

A network RTK system operated in real time requires each GNSS referencereceiver to transmit its observables to a network server computer thatcomputes and transmits the corrections and other relevant data to theGNSS cellular device 100, 200's receiver 107. The GNSS referencereceivers, plus hardware to assemble and broadcast observables, aretypically designed for this purpose and are installed specifically forthe purpose of implementing the network. Consequently, those receiversare called dedicated (network) reference receivers.

An example of a VRS network is designed and manufactured by TrimbleNavigation Limited, of Sunnyvale, Calif. The VRS network as delivered byTrimble includes a number of dedicated reference stations, a VRS server,multiple server-reference receiver bi-directional communicationchannels, and multiple server-cellular-device-bi-directional datacommunication channels. Each server-cellular device bi-directionalcommunication channel serves one cellular device 100, 200. The referencestations provide their observables to the VRS server via theserver-reference receiver bi-directional communication channels. Thesechannels can be implemented by a public network such as the Internet.The bi-directional server-cellular-device communication channels can beradio modems or cellular telephone links, depending on the location ofthe server with respect to the cellular device 100, 200.

The VRS server combines the observables from the dedicated referencereceivers to compute a set of synthetic observables at the VRS positionand broadcasts these plus the VRS position in a standard differentialGNSS (DGNSS) message format, such as one of the RTCM (Radio TechnicalCommission for Maritime Services) formats, an RTCA (Radio TechnicalCommission for Aeronautics) format or a proprietary format such as theCMR (Compact Measurement Report) or CMR+ format which are messagingsystem communication formats employed by Trimble Navigation Limited.Descriptions for numerous of such formats are widely available. Forexample, RTCM Standard 10403.1 for DGNSS Services—Version 3, publishedOct. 26, 2006 (and Amendment 2 to the same, published Aug. 31, 2007) isavailable from the Radio Technical Commission for Maritime Services,1800 N. Kent St., Suite 1060, Arlington, Va. 22209. The syntheticobservables are the observables that a reference receiver located at theVRS position would measure. The VRS position is selected to be close tothe cellular device 100, 200's estimated position so that the cellulardevice 100, 200's VRS separation is less than a maximum separationconsidered acceptable for the application. Consequently, the cellulardevice 100, 200 receiver 107 must periodically transmit its approximateposition to the VRS server. The main reason for this particularimplementation of a real-time network RTK system is compatibility withRTK survey GNSS receivers that are designed to operate with a singlereference receiver.

Descriptions of the VRS technique are provided in U.S. Pat. No.6,324,473 of (hereinafter “Eschenbach”) (see particularly col. 7, line21 et seq.) and U.S. Patent application publication no. 2005/0064878, ofB. O'Meagher (hereinafter “O'Meagher”), which are assigned to TrimbleNavigation Limited; and in H. Landau et al., Virtual Reference Stationsversus Broadcast Solutions in Network RTK, GNSS 2003 Proceedings, Graz,Austria (2003); each of which is incorporated herein by reference.

The term “VRS”, as used henceforth in this document, is used asshorthand to refer to any system or technique which has thecharacteristics and functionality of VRS described or referenced hereinand is not necessarily limited to a system from Trimble Navigation Ltd.Hence, the term “VRS” is used in this document merely to facilitatedescription and is used without derogation to any trademark rights ofTrimble Navigation Ltd. or any subsidiary thereof or other relatedentity.

Precise Positioning Point (PPP)

Descriptions of a Precise Point Positioning (PPP) technique are providedin U.S. Patent application publication 20110187590, of Leandro, which isassigned to Trimble Navigation Limited and is incorporated herein byreference. Trimble Navigation Limited has commercialized a version ofPPP corrections which it calls RTX™. PPP corrections can be anycollection of data that provides corrections from a satellite in space,clock errors, ionosphere or troposphere, or a combination thereof.According to one embodiment, PPP corrections can be used in instead ofWAAS or RTX™.

The term Precise Point Positioning (PPP), as used henceforth in thisdocument, is used as shorthand to refer to any system or technique whichhas the characteristics and functionality of PPP described or referencedherein and is not necessarily limited to a system from TrimbleNavigation Ltd. Hence, the term “PPP” is used in this document merely tofacilitate description and is used without derogation to any trademarkrights of Trimble Navigation Ltd. or any subsidiary thereof or otherrelated entity. Techniques for generating PPP corrections are well knownin the art. In general, a PPP system utilizes a network (which may beglobal) of GNSS reference receivers tracking navigation satellites suchas GPS and GLONASS satellites and feeding data back to a centralizedlocation for processing. At the centralized location, the precise orbitsand precise clocks of all of the tracked navigation satellites aregenerated and updated in real time. A correction stream is produced bythe central location; the correction stream contains the orbit and clockinformation. This correction stream is broadcast or otherwise providedto GNSS receivers, such as a GNSS receiver 107, in the field(conventionally by satellite service or cellular link). Correctionsprocessors in the GNSS receivers utilize the corrections to producecentimeter level positions after a short convergence time (e.g., lessthan 30 minutes). A main difference between PPP and VRS is that PPPnetworks of reference receivers are typically global while VRS networksmay be regional or localized with shorter spacing between the referencestations in a VRS network.

Wide Area Augmentation System (WAAS)

Wide Area Augmentation System (WAAS) corrections are corrections ofsatellite position and their behavior. WAAS was developed by the FederalAviation Administration (FAA). WAAS includes a network of referencestations that are on the ground located in North America and Hawaii. Thereference stations transmit their respective measurements to masterstations which queue their respective received measurements. The masterstations transmit WAAS corrections to geostationary WAAS satellites,which in turn broadcast the WAAS corrections back to earth wherecellular devices 100, 200 that include WAAS-enabled GPS receivers canreceive the broadcasted WAAS corrections. According to one embodiment,the GNSS receiver 107 is a WAAS-enabled GPS receiver. The WAAScorrections can be used to improve the accuracy of the respectivecellular devices 100, 200′ positions, for example, by applying the WAAScorrections to extracted pseudoranges. WAAS operation and implementationis well known in the art.

Real Carrier Phase Information

According to one embodiment, a GNSS chipset 170 provides real carrierphase information (also referred to as “actual carrier phaseinformation”). The cellular device 100, 200 can extract real carrierphase information from the GNSS chipset 170 in a manner similar toextracting pseudorange information from the GNSS chipset 170, where theextracted carrier phase information is for use elsewhere in the cellulardevice 100, 200 outside of the GNSS chipset 170 as described herein, forexample, with flowchart 600 of FIG. 6.

FIG. 5A is a flowchart 500A of a method for performing a carrier phasesmoothing operation using real carrier phase information, according toone embodiment. In various embodiments, carrier phase smoothing logic152 may be implemented by either a range domain hatch filter, or aposition domain hatch filter, or by any of other implementations knownin the literature. The range domain hatch filter method is described inU.S. Pat. No. 5,471,217 by Hatch et al., entitled “Method and Apparatusfor Smoothing Coded Measurements in a Global Positioning SystemReceiver,” filed Feb. 1, 1993, incorporated by reference herein, and theHatch paper entitled “The synergism of GPS code and carriermeasurements,” published in the Proceedings of the Third InternationalGeodetic symposium on satellite Doppler Positioning, New Mexico, 1982:1213-1232. See also p 45 of the Master's Thesis by Sudha NeelimaThipparthi entitled “Improving Positional Accuracy using CarrierSmoothing Techniques in Inexpensive GPS Receivers,” MSEE thesis, NewMexico State University, Las Cruces, N. Mex., February 2004.

The filtering/processing described herein lies in the family of errorsin pseudorange processing that affect code and carrier measurements inthe same way. In various embodiments, the code phase pseudorangemeasurements are “disciplined” by subtracting out a more constantequivalent pseudorange-like distance measurement derived from thecarrier phase. Next, a filtering on the net subtracted signal isperformed which allows various embodiments to eliminate multipathinduced errors in the raw, and corrected, pseudorange data. This methoddoes not deal with ionospheric effects, according to one embodiment.

In operation 501A of FIG. 5A, extracted pseudorange information andcarrier phases for a first epoch are collected. In one embodiment, theseextracted pseudorange information and carrier phases are received atcarrier phase smoothing logic 152 from the GNSS receiver 107.

In operation 502A of FIG. 5A, pseudorange corrections are collected andapplied to the first set of extracted pseudoranges collected inoperation 501A. In one embodiment, these corrections themselves may besmoothed at the reference receiver (e.g., at GPS/GNSS reference stations220) so that the delivered pseudorange corrections themselves are lessnoisy. Smoothing the pseudorange corrections derived at the GPS/GNSSreference stations 220 using the same carrier phase method of flowchart500A can vastly improve the quality of the delivered pseudorangecorrections delivered to cellular device 100, 200 for use by a positiondetermination processor (e.g., GNSS receiver 107 or pseudorangeinformation processing logic 150). Such corrected pseudoranges that arealso smoothed may be used by the cellular device 100, 200 and fetched ifavailable.

In operation 503A of FIG. 5A, delta carrier phase measurements for thesame epoch are created using real carrier phase information. Inaccordance with various embodiments, this replicates creating a seconddistance measurement, similar to the reconstructed carrier phaseinformation, based on integrated Doppler Shift.

In operation 504A of FIG. 5A, the delta carrier phase measurements aresubtracted from the corrected extracted pseudoranges. In accordance withvarious embodiments, this provides a fairly constant signal for thatepoch and is equivalent to the corrected extracted pseudorange at thestart of the integration interval. In accordance with variousembodiments, this is referred to as a “disciplining” step that smoothesout the corrected extracted pseudorange signal and therefore reduces theinstant errors in the later-computed position fixes.

In operation 505A of FIG. 5A, the signal is filtered after thesubtraction of operation 504A to reduce noise. In accordance with oneembodiment, this is performed by averaging the carrier phase“yardsticks” over a series of epochs.

In operation 506A of FIG. 5A, the delta carrier phase measurements fromthe real carrier phase processing operation is added back into thefiltered signal of operation 505A.

In operation 507A of FIG. 5A, the new filtered and corrected extractedpseudorange signal is processed, for example, at the pseudorangeinformation processing logic 150, to derive a position fix 172B.

Reconstructing Carrier Phase Information based on Doppler Shift

Carrier Phase Information can be reconstructed (referred to herein as“reconstructed carrier phase”) based on Doppler Shift. Doppler Shift isthe change in frequency of a periodic event (also known as a “wave”)perceived by an observer that is moving relative to a source of theperiodic event. For example, Doppler shift refers to the change inapparent received satellite signal frequency caused by the relativemotion of the satellites as they either approach the cellular device100, 200 or recede from it. Thus any measurement of Doppler frequencychange is similar to differentiating carrier phase. It is thereforepossible to reconstruct the carrier phase by integrating the Dopplershift data. In an embodiment, the GNSS chipset 170 of GNSS receiver 107may provide Doppler information it determines through other means. ThisDoppler frequency shift information or “Doppler” may be collected ateach GPS timing epoch (e.g., one second) and integrated over a sequenceof the one-second epochs, to produce a model of carrier phase. ThisDoppler-derived carrier phase model may be substituted for the realcarrier phase data, and used in the same manner as shown in the flowchart for carrier phase smoothing of FIG. 5A. Doppler Shift signalprocessing is well known in the art.

FIG. 5B is a flowchart 500B of a method for generating reconstructedcarrier phase information (also referred to as a “Doppler-derivedcarrier phase model”) based on Doppler Shift, according to oneembodiment. In accordance with one embodiment, method of flowchart 500Bis implemented at GPS/GNSS reference stations and the modeled carrierphase is provided to cellular device 100, 200 via one of thecommunication networks described above.

In operation 501B of FIG. 5B, Doppler information from a GNSS receiver107 of a GNSS chipset 170 is received bypseudorange-carrier-phase-smoothing-logic 152.

In operation 502B of FIG. 5B, a series of Doppler information isintegrated. As described above, Doppler frequency shift information maybe collected at each GPS timing epoch (e.g., one second) and stored foruse in producing a model of carrier phase.

In operation 503B of FIG. 5B, a model of carrier phase is created basedon integrated Doppler information. As discussed above with reference tooperation 502B, a series of Doppler information for a plurality oftiming epochs is integrated. In one embodiment, this Doppler informationis integrated over a sequence of the one-second epochs, to produce amodel of carrier phase. The sequence may include 10-100 epochs, orseconds. The model of carrier phase smoothing is used as thereconstructed carrier phase information.

In operation 504B of FIG. 5B, the modeled carrier phase, which is alsoreferred to as “reconstructed carrier phase information”, is supplied topseudorange-carrier-phase-smoothing-logic 152. As described above,method of flowchart 500Bcan be implemented at GPS/GNSS referencestations 220 and the reconstructed carrier phase information can then bebroadcast to cellular device 100, 200.

Method of Extracting Pseudorange Information

FIG. 6 depicts a flowchart 600 of a method of extracting pseudorangeinformation using a cellular device, according to one embodiment.

At 610, the method begins.

At 620, the cellular device 100, 200 accesses the GNSS chipset 170embedded within the cellular device 100, 200 where the GNSS chipset 170calculates pseudorange information for use by the GNSS chipset 170. Forexample, the GNSS receiver 107 can perform GPS measurements to deriveraw measurement data for a position of the cellular device 100. The rawmeasurement data provides an instant location of the cellular device100. The GNSS chipset 170 calculates pseudorange information that is foruse by the GNSS chipset 170. According to one embodiment, the rawmeasurement data is the pseudorange information that will be extracted.Examples of pseudorange information are uncorrected pseudorangeinformation, differential GNSS corrections, high precision GNSSsatellite orbital data, GNSS satellite broadcast ephemeris data, andionospheric projections.

A chipset accessor logic 141, according to one embodiment, is configuredfor accessing the GNSS chipset 170. According to one embodiment, thechipset accessor logic 141 is a part of an SUPL client 101.

The pseudorange information can be obtained from the processor 172 ofthe GNSS receiver 107 using a command. The GNSS chipset 170 may bedesigned, for example, by the manufacturer of the GNSS chipset 170, toprovide requested information, such as pseudorange information, inresponse to receiving the command. The pseudorange information may beextracted from the GNSS chipset 170 using the command that themanufacturer has designed the GNSS chipset 170 with. For example,according to one embodiment, the GNSS chipset 170 is accessed using anoperation that is a session started with a message that is an improvedaccuracy Secure User Platform Location (SUPL) start message or a highprecision SUPL INIT message. According to one embodiment, the message isa custom command that is specific to the GNSS chipset 170 (also referredto as “a GNSS chipset custom command”) and the improved accuracy SUPLclient 101 can access to the raw measurements of the GNSS chipset 170.

Examples of chipset manufacturers include Qualcomm, Texas Instruments,FastraX, Marvel, SIRF, Trimble, SONY, Furuno, Nemerix, Phillips, andXEMICS, to name a few.

At 630, the cellular device 100, 200 extracts the pseudorangeinformation from the GNSS chipset 170 for use elsewhere in the cellulardevice 100, 200 outside of the GNSS chipset 170. For example,pseudorange information extractor logic 142 may be associated with aworker thread of the SUPL client 101. The worker thread associated withthe SUPL client 101 can monitor the raw measurements delivered by theGNSS chipset 170 into the GNSS chipset 170's memory buffers, cache theraw measurements and use the raw measurements to determine a positionfix. The pseudorange information extractor logic 142 and the pseudorangeinformation processing logic 150 can be associated with the workerthread. For example, the pseudorange information extractor logic 142 cancache the raw measurements and the pseudorange information processinglogic 150 can determine the location.

According to one embodiment, the raw measurement data is the pseudorangeinformation that is extracted. According to one embodiment, the rawmeasurement data is pseudorange information that is calculated by theGNSS chipset 170 and is only for use by the GNSS chipset 170.

According to one embodiment, a determining position fix logic 170B mayperform a least squares solution 171B on the extracted pseudorangeinformation prior to transmitting the output to the pseudorangeinformation bridger logic 143. According to another embodiment, theextracted pseudorange information is improved using various embodimentsdescribed in FIGS. 7A-10 prior to performing a least squares solution171B, as will be described herein.

Methods of Improving Position Accuracy of Extracted PseudorangeInformation

The extracted pseudorange information without further improvements canbe used to provide an instant location, as described herein. Theextracted pseudorange information can be improved by applying positionaccuracy improvements that include, but are not limited to, thosedepicted in Tables 2 and 3. The instant location or the improvedlocation can be communicated to location manager logic 161, as discussedherein, that displays the instant location or the improved location withrespect to a map.

FIG. 7A depicts a flowchart 700A of a method of improving the positionaccuracy using one or more position accuracy improvements, according toone embodiment.

At 710A, the method begins.

At 720A, the pseudorange-correction-logic 151 provides Wide AreaAugmentation System (WAAS) corrected pseudoranges by applying WAAScorrections to the extracted pseudorange information. For example, thepseudorange-correction-logic 151 receives the extracted pseudorangeinformation that was extracted from the GNSS chipset 170 at 630 of FIG.6. The cellular device 100, 200 receives the WAAS corrections, asdescribed herein, and provides the WAAS corrections to thepseudorange-correction-logic 151. The pseudorange-correction-logic 151provides Wide Area Augmentation System (WAAS) corrected pseudoranges byapplying the received WAAS corrections to the extracted pseudorangeinformation.

At 730A the method ends.

FIG. 7B depicts a flowchart 700B of a method of improving the positionaccuracy using one or more position accuracy improvements, according toone embodiment.

At 710B, the method begins.

At 720B, the pseudorange-carrier-phase-smoothing-logic 152 providessmoothed pseudorange information by performing pseudorange smoothing onthe extracted pseudorange information based on carrier phaseinformation. For example, if real carrier phase information isavailable, the cellular device 100, 200 can extract it as discussedherein. Otherwise, the cellular device 100, 200 can derive reconstructedcarrier phase information as described herein and provide thereconstructed carrier phase information to thepseudorange-carrier-phase-smoothing-logic 152. Thepseudorange-carrier-phase-smoothing-logic 152 can receive the extractedpseudorange information that was extracted from the GNSS chipset 170 at630 of FIG. 6. The pseudorange-carrier-phase-smoothing-logic 152 canapply either the real carrier phase information or the real carrierphase information to the extracted pseudorange information to providesmoothed pseudorange information.

At 730B, a position fix is determined based on the smoothed pseudorangeinformation and WAAS pseudorange corrections. For example, thepseudorange-correction-logic 151 receives the smoothed pseudorangeinformation and receives WAAS pseudorange corrections and determines aposition fix based on the smoothed pseudorange information and the WAASpseudorange corrections.

At 740B, the method ends.

According to one embodiment, a determining position fix logic 170B mayperform a least squares solution 171B on the output of flowchart 700Aand 700B prior to transmitting the output to the pseudorange informationbridger logic 143.

FIG. 8A depicts a flowchart 800A of a method of improving the positionaccuracy using one or more position accuracy improvements, according toone embodiment.

At 810A, the method begins.

At 820A, the pseudorange-correction-logic 151 provides DifferentialGlobal Positioning System (DGPS) corrected pseudoranges by applying DGPScorrections to the extracted pseudorange information.

For example, the pseudorange-correction-logic 151 receives the extractedpseudorange information that was extracted from the GNSS chipset 170 at630 of FIG. 6. The cellular device 100, 200 receives the DGPScorrections as described herein and provides the DGPS corrections to thepseudorange-correction-logic 151. The pseudorange-correction-logic 151provides Differential Global Positioning System (DGPS) correctedpseudoranges by applying the received DGPS corrections to the extractedpseudorange information.

At 830A, the pseudorange-correction-logic 151 provides WAAS-DGPScorrected pseudoranges by applying Wide Area Augmentation System (WAAS)to the DGPS corrected pseudoranges.

For example, the pseudorange-correction-logic 151 accesses the DGPScorrected pseudoranges determined at 820A of FIG. 8A. The cellulardevice 100, 200 receives the WAAS corrections as described herein andprovides the WAAS corrections to the pseudorange-correction-logic 151.The pseudorange-correction-logic 151 provides WAAS-DGPS correctedpseudoranges by applying Wide Area Augmentation System (WAAS) to theDGPS corrected pseudoranges.

At 840A, the method ends.

FIG. 8B depicts a flowchart 800B of a method of improving the positionaccuracy using one or more position accuracy improvements, according toone embodiment.

At 810B, the method begins.

At 820B, a position determination decision is made as to whether toproceed to 822B or 824B. For example, at operation 820B, the positionaccuracy improvement determination logic 180B can determine whether toproceed to 822B or 824B as discussed herein.

At 830B, DGPS corrected smoothed pseudoranges are provided by applyingcorrections to the smoothed pseudorange information. For example, thepseudorange-correction-logic 151 can provide DGPS corrected smoothedpseudoranges by applying DGPS corrections to the smoothed pseudorangesdetermined at either 822B or 824B.

At 840B, WAAS-DGPS corrected smoothed pseudoranges are provided byapplying WAAS to the DGPS corrected smoothed pseudoranges. For example,the pseudorange-correction-logic 151 can provide WAAS-DGPS correctedsmoothed pseudoranges by applying WAAS corrections to the DGPS correctedsmoothed pseudoranges.

At 850B, the method ends.

According to one embodiment, a determining position fix logic 170B mayperform a least squares solution 171B on the output of flowcharts 800Aor 800B prior to transmitting the output to the pseudorange informationbridger logic 143.

FIG. 9A depicts a flowchart 900A of a method of improving the positionaccuracy using one or more position accuracy improvements, according toone embodiment.

At 910A, the method begins.

At 920A, DGPS corrected pseudoranges are determined by applying DGPSpseudorange corrections to extracted pseudorange information. Forexample, the pseudorange-correction-logic 151 receives extractedpseudorange information from the pseudorange information extractor logic142 and applies the DGPS pseudorange corrections to the extractedpseudorange information.

At 930A, the pseudorange-correction-logic 151 can determine a positionfix based on the DGPS corrected pseudoranges and PPP corrections.

At 940A, the method ends.

FIG. 9B depicts a flowchart 900B of a method of improving the positionaccuracy using one or more position accuracy improvements, according toone embodiment.

At 910B, the method begins.

At 920B, smoothed pseudorange information is provided by performingpseudorange smoothing on the extracted pseudorange information usingcarrier phase information. For example, thepseudorange-carrier-phase-smoothing-logic 152 provides smoothedpseudorange information by performing pseudorange smoothing on theextracted pseudorange information, which can be obtained as discussedherein, based on carrier phase information. If real carrier phaseinformation is available, the cellular device 100, 200 can extract thereal carrier phase information, as discussed herein. Otherwise, thecellular device 100, 200 can derive reconstructed carrier phaseinformation, as described herein, and provide the reconstructed carrierphase information to the pseudorange-carrier-phase-smoothing-logic 152.

At 930B, DGPS corrected smoothed pseudoranges are provided by applyingDGPS pseudorange corrections to the smoothed pseudorange information.For example, the pseudorange-correction-logic 151 can receive thesmoothed pseudorange information from thepseudorange-carrier-phase-smoothing-logic 152. Thepseudorange-correction-logic 151 can determine the corrected smoothedpseudoranges by applying DGPS pseudorange corrections to the smoothedpseudorange information.

At 940B, a position fix can be determined based on the DGPS correctedsmoothed pseudoranges and PPP corrections. For example, thepseudorange-correction-logic 151 can determine a position fix based onthe DGPS corrected smoothed pseudoranges and PPP corrections.

At 950B, the method ends.

According to one embodiment, a determining position fix logic 170B mayperform a least squares solution 171B on the output of flowcharts 900Aand 900B prior to transmitting the output to the pseudorange informationbridger logic 143.

FIG. 10 depicts a flowchart 1000 of a method of improving the positionaccuracy using one or more position accuracy improvements, according toone embodiment.

At 1010, the method begins.

At 1020, the pseudorange-carrier-phase-smoothing-logic 152 smoothes theextracted pseudorange information based on carrier phase smoothing. Forexample, the pseudorange-carrier-phase-smoothing-logic 152 receivesextracted pseudorange information from the pseudorange informationextractor logic 142 and receives carrier phase information, which may beeither real carrier phase information or reconstructed carrier phaseinformation, as described herein. Thepseudorange-carrier-phase-smoothing-logic 152 smoothes the extractedpseudorange information based on carrier phase smoothing.

At 1030, the PPP logic 151C provides a smoothed improved accuracyposition fix by performing Precise Point Positioning (PPP) processing onthe smoothed extracted pseudorange information. For example, the PPPlogic 151C receives the smoothed extracted pseudorange informationprovided by the pseudorange-carrier-phase-smoothing-logic 152 at 1020.The PPP logic 151C provides a smoothed improved accuracy position fix byperforming Precise Point Positioning (PPP) processing on the smoothedextracted pseudorange information

At 1040, the pseudorange-correction-logic 151 can optionally correct thesmoothed improved accuracy position fix by applying Differential GlobalPositioning System (DGPS) corrections to the smoothed improved accuracyposition fix. For example, pseudorange-correction-logic 151 receives thesmoothed improved accuracy position fix provided by the PPP logic 151Cat 1030. The pseudorange-correction-logic 151 receives DGPS correctionsas described herein. The pseudorange-correction-logic 151 corrects thesmoothed improved accuracy position fix by applying Differential GlobalPositioning System (DGPS) corrections to the smoothed improved accuracyposition fix, thus, providing a corrected smoothed improved accuracyposition fix. Operation 1040 is optional, according to one embodiment.

At 1050, the method ends.

According to one embodiment, a determining position fix logic 170B mayperform a least squares solution 171B on the output of flowchart 1000prior to transmitting the output to the pseudorange information bridgerlogic 143.

FIG. 11 depicts a flowchart 1100 of a method of accessing and processingextracted pseudorange information, according to one embodiment.

At 1110, various types of information can be accessed. Examples ofaccessing are extracting 1112 information and receiving 1114information. Unsmoothed uncorrected pseudorange information can beextracted at 1112A, WAAS corrections can be extracted at 1112B, SBAScorrections can be extracted at 1112E, Doppler shift can be extracted at1112C, and carrier phase measurements can be extracted at 1112D.“Accessing” and “obtaining” can be used interchangeably. Table 1 depictstypes of information that can be extracted at operation 1112 from theGNSS chipset 170 and types of information that are received at operation1114 instead of being extracted. However, various embodiments are notlimited to the types of information that can be extracted or receiveddepicted in Table 1.

The received or extracted information or a combination thereof, can beprocessed at 1120.

What or whether to apply position accuracy improvements can bedetermined at 1160, for example, by the position accuracy improvementdetermination logic 180B. Examples of position accuracy improvements arereal carrier phase information, reconstructed carrier phase information,WAAS, SBAS, DGPS, PPP, RTK, VRS and RTX™ corrections. The determinationlogic 180B can determine whether one or more and in what order logics152A, 152B, 151A-151F are performed, according to one embodiment. Tables2 and 3 are examples of carrier phase information or corrections or acombination thereof, that the position accuracy improvementdetermination logic 180B may determine, as discussed herein.

The information can be smoothed at 1130. Examples of smoothing 1130 arereal carrier phase smoothing 1132 and reconstructed carrier phasesmoothing 1134.

Either unsmoothed information or smoothed information can be correctedat 1140. For example, unsmoothed information from 1110 or smoothedinformation from 1130 can be corrected at 1140. Examples of correctingare SBAS correcting 1140G, WAAS correcting 1140A, DGPS correcting 1140B,PPP correcting 1140C, RTK correcting 1140D, VRS correcting 1140E, andRTX correcting 1140F. The smoothed information or unsmoothed informationcan be corrected using one or more of operations 1140A-1140G. Accordingto one embodiment, WAAS correcting 1140A is an example of SBAScorrecting 1140G.

Unsmoothed information from 1110, smoothed information from 1112,corrected unsmoothed information from 1140 or corrected smoothedinformation from 1140 can be used to determine a position fix 172B at1150, for example, by performing a least squares solution 171B at 1152.The output of flowchart 1100 is a position fix 172B. Table 2 and Table 3depict combinations of information that result in a position fix 172B,according to various embodiments.

According to one embodiment, accessing 1110, extracting 1112, extractingpseudorange information 1112A, extracting SBAS 1112E, extracting WAAS1112B, extracting Doppler 1112C, extracting carrier phase measurement1112D, receiving 1114, smoothing 1130, correcting 1140, determining aposition fix 1150, and performing a least squares solution 1152 can beperformed respectively by logic 110B, 142, 112B-5, 112B-2, 112B-3,112B-4, 114B, 150, 152, 151, and 170B. Real carrier phase smoothing1132, reconstructed carrier phase smoothing 1134, correcting 1140A-1140Gcan be performed respectively by logic 152A, 152B, 151A-151E, 151F,151G.

Any one or more of 1112, 1112A-1112E, 1132, 1134, 1140A-1140G can beperformed. Further, any one or more of 1112, 1112A-1112E, 1112B, 1112C,1112E, 1132, 1134, 1140A-1140G can be performed in various orders.Various embodiments are not limited to just the combinations that aredescribed herein.

According to one embodiment, a Global Navigation Satellite System (GNSS)chipset embedded within the cellular device is accessed at 620 (FIG. 6)where the GNSS chipset calculates pseudorange information for use by theGNSS chipset. The pseudorange information is extracted at 640 (FIG. 6),112 (FIG. 11) from the GNSS chipset for use elsewhere in the cellulardevice outside of the GNSS chipset. The accessing 620 and the extracting640, 1112A can be performed by the cellular device 100, 200 thatincludes hardware 180.

The extracted pseudorange information can be smoothed at 1130. Thesmoothing 1130 can be based on reconstructed carrier phase informationor real carrier phase information. The smoothed pseudorange informationcan be corrected at 1140. Examples of the types of correctedpseudoranges are Wide Area Augmentation System (WAAS), DifferentialGlobal Positioning System (DGPS), Precise Point Positioning (PPP), andReal Time Kinematic (RTK). Pseudorange corrections can be accessed 1110.The corrected pseudorange information can be derived, for example at1140, by applying the pseudorange corrections to the extractedpseudorange information.

FIGS. 4-11 depict flowcharts 400-1100, according to one embodiment.Although specific operations are disclosed in flowcharts 400-1100, suchoperations are exemplary. That is, embodiments of the present inventionare well suited to performing various other operations or variations ofthe operations recited in flowcharts 400-1100. It is appreciated thatthe operations in flowcharts 400-1100 may be performed in an orderdifferent than presented, and that not all of the operations inflowcharts 400-1100 may be performed.

The operations depicted in FIGS. 4-11 transform data or modify data totransform the state of a cellular device 100, 200. For example, byextracting pseudorange information from a GNSS chipset 170 for useelsewhere, the state of the cellular device 100, 200 is transformed froma cellular device that is not capable of determining a position fixitself into a cellular device that is capable of determining a positionfix itself. In another example, operations depicted in flowcharts400-1100 transform the state of a cellular device 100, 200 from notbeing capable of providing an improved accuracy position fix to becapable of providing an improved accuracy position fix.

The above illustration is only provided by way of example and not by wayof limitation. There are other ways of performing the method describedby flowcharts 400-1100.

The operations depicted in FIGS. 4-11 can be implemented as computerreadable instructions, hardware or firmware. According to oneembodiment, hardware associated with a cellular device 100, 200 canperform one or more of the operations depicted in FIGS. 4-11.

Example GNSS Receiver

With reference now to FIG. 12, a block diagram is shown of an embodimentof an example GNSS receiver which may be used in accordance with variousembodiments described herein. In particular, FIG. 12 illustrates a blockdiagram of a GNSS receiver in the form of a general purpose GPS receiver1230 capable of demodulation of the L1 and/or L2 signal(s) received fromone or more GPS satellites. A more detailed discussion of the functionof a receiver such as GPS receiver 1230 can be found in U.S. Pat. No.5,621,416, by Gary R. Lennen, is titled “Optimized processing of signalsfor enhanced cross-correlation in a satellite positioning systemreceiver,” and includes a GPS receiver very similar to GPS receiver 1230of FIG. 12.

In FIG. 12, received L1 and L2 signals are generated by at least one GPSsatellite. Each GPS satellite generates different signal L1 and L2signals and they are processed by different digital channel processors1252 which operate in the same way as one another. FIG. 12 shows GPSsignals (L1=1575.42 MHz, L2=1227.60 MHz) entering GPS receiver 1230through a dual frequency antenna 1232. Antenna 1232 may be amagnetically mountable model commercially available from TrimbleNavigation of Sunnyvale, Calif. Master oscillator 1248 provides thereference oscillator which drives all other clocks in the system.Frequency synthesizer 1238 takes the output of master oscillator 1248and generates important clock and local oscillator frequencies usedthroughout the system. For example, in one embodiment frequencysynthesizer 1238 generates several timing signals such as a 1st (localoscillator) signal LO1 at 1400 MHz, a 2nd local oscillator signal LO2 at175 MHz, an SCLK (sampling clock) signal at 25 MHz, and a MSEC(millisecond) signal used by the system as a measurement of localreference time.

A filter/LNA (Low Noise Amplifier) 1234 performs filtering and low noiseamplification of both L1 and L2 signals. The noise figure of GPSreceiver 1230 is dictated by the performance of the filter/LNAcombination. The downconvertor 1236 mixes both L1 and L2 signals infrequency down to approximately 175 MHz and outputs the analogue L1 andL2 signals into an IF (intermediate frequency) processor 1250. IFprocessor 1250 takes the analog L1 and L2 signals at approximately 175MHz and converts them into digitally sampled L1 and L2 inphase (L1 I andL2 I) and quadrature signals (L1 Q and L2 Q) at carrier frequencies 420KHz for L1 and at 2.6 MHz for L2 signals respectively.

At least one digital channel processor 1252 inputs the digitally sampledL1 and L2 inphase and quadrature signals. All digital channel processors1252 are typically are identical by design and typically operate onidentical input samples. Each digital channel processor 1252 is designedto digitally track the L1 and L2 signals produced by one satellite bytracking code and carrier signals and to from code and carrier phasemeasurements in conjunction with the GNSS microprocessor system 1254.One digital channel processor 1252 is capable of tracking one satellitein both L1 and L2 channels. Microprocessor system 1254 is a generalpurpose computing device (such as computer system 1000 of FIG. 10) whichfacilitates tracking and measurements processes, providing pseudorangeand carrier phase measurements for a determining position fix logic1258. In one embodiment, microprocessor system 1254 provides signals tocontrol the operation of one or more digital channel processors 1252.According to one embodiment, the GNSS microprocessor system 1254provides one or more of pseudorange information 1272, Doppler Shiftinformation 1274, and real Carrier Phase Information 1276 to thedetermining position fix logic 1258. One or more of pseudorangeinformation 1272, Doppler Shift information 1274, and real Carrier PhaseInformation 1276 can also be obtained from storage 1260. One or more ofthe signals 1272, 1274, 1276 can be conveyed to the cellular device'sprocessor, such as processor 109 (FIG. 1A) that is external to the GNSSchipset 170 (FIG. 1A). Determining position fix logic 1258 performs thehigher level function of combining measurements in such a way as toproduce position, velocity and time information for the differential andsurveying functions, for example, in the form of a position fix 1280.Storage 1260 is coupled with determining position fix logic 1258 andmicroprocessor system 1254. It is appreciated that storage 1260 maycomprise a volatile or non-volatile storage such as a RAM or ROM, orsome other computer readable memory device or media. In someembodiments, determining position fix logic 1258 performs one or more ofthe methods of position correction described herein.

In some embodiments, microprocessor 1254 and/or determining position fixlogic 1258 receive additional inputs for use in receiving correctionsinformation. According to one embodiment, an example of the correctionsinformation is WAAS corrections. According to one embodiment, examplesof corrections information are differential GPS corrections, RTKcorrections, signals used by the previously referenced Enge-Talbotmethod, and wide area augmentation system (WAAS) corrections amongothers.

Although FIG. 12 depicts a GNSS receiver 1130 with navigation signalsL1I, L1Q, L2I, L2Q, various embodiments are well suited differentcombinations of navigational signals. For example, according to oneembodiment, the GNSS receiver 1130 may only have an L1I navigationalsignal. According to one embodiment, the GNSS receiver 1130 may onlyhave L1I, L1Q and L2I.

Various embodiments are also well suited for future navigationalsignals. For example, various embodiments are well suited for thenavigational signal L2C that is not currently generally available.However, there are plans to make it available for non-militaryreceivers.

According to one embodiment, either or both of the accessing logic 110Band the processing logic 150 reside at either or both of the storage1260 and GNSS microprocessor system 1254.

According to one embodiment, the GNSS receiver 1230 is an example of aGNSS receiver 107 (see e.g., FIG. 1A and FIG. 1D). According to oneembodiment, the determining position fix logic 1258 is an example ofdetermining position fix logic 170B (FIG. 1B). According to oneembodiment, position fix 1280 is an example of a position fix 172B (FIG.1B).

Kalman Filtering

FIG. 13 depicts an example Kalman filtering process 1300, according tosome embodiments. It should be appreciated that Kalman filtering is wellknown. As such, FIG. 13 and the associated discussion are utilized onlyto provide a high-level general description. Variations in the describedprocedures will occur during specific implementations of Kalmanfiltering. The extended Kalman filter and the unscented Kalman filterrepresent some of the variations to the basic method. Such variationsare normal and expected. Generally speaking, Kalman filtering is a basictwo-step predictor/corrector modeling process that is commonly usedmodel dynamic systems. A dynamic system will often be described with aseries of mathematical models. Models describing satellites in a GlobalNavigation Satellite System (GNSS) are one example of a dynamic system.Because the position of any satellite and/or the positions of all thesatellites in a system constantly and dynamically change and thesatellites output a signal that can be measured by a GNSS receiver,Kalman filtering can be used in determining positions of the satellites.

A basic Kalman filter implemented using Kalman filtering process 1300typically has at least two major components 1310: states 1311 andcovariances 1312. States 1311 represent variables that are used todescribe a system being modeled, at a particular moment in time.Covariances 1312 are represented in a covariance matrix that describesuncertainty, or lack of confidence, of states 1311 with respect to eachother at that same moment in time. Kalman filtering process 1300 alsohandles noise, or unpredictable variability, in the model. There are twoprinciple types of noise, observation noise 1341 and process noise 1321.A Kalman filter may handle additional noise types, in some embodiments.Process noise 1321 describes noise of the states 1311 as a function oftime. Observation noise 1341 is noise that relates to the actualobservation(s) 1340 (e.g., observed measurements) that are used as aninput/update to Kalman filtering process 1300.

A prediction phase 1320 is the first phase of Kalman filtering process1300. Prediction phase 1320 uses predictive models to propagate states1311 to the time of an actual observation(s) 1340. Prediction phase 1320also uses process noise 1321 and predictive models to propagate thecovariances 1312 to time of the actual observation(s) 1340 as well. Thepropagated states 1311 are used to make predicted observation(s) 1322for the time of actual observation(s) 1340.

A correction phase 1330 is the second phase in the Kalman filteringprocess 1300. During correction phase 1330, Kalman filtering process1300 uses the difference between the predicted observation(s) 1322 andthe actual observation(s) 1340 to create an observation measurementresidual 1331, which may commonly be called the “measurement residual.”Observation noise 1341 can be noise in actual observation(s) 1340 and/ornoise that occurs in the process of taking the actual observation(s)1340. A Kalman gain 1332 is calculated using both the covariances 1312and the observation noise 1341. The states 1311 are then updated usingthe Kalman Gain 1332 multiplied by the observation measurement residual1331. The covariances 1312 are also updated using a function related tothe Kalman gain 1332; for example, in one embodiment where Kalman gainis limited to a value between 0 and 1, this function may be 1 minus theKalman gain. This updating is sometimes referred to as the “covarianceupdate.” In some embodiments, if no actual observation 1340 isavailable, Kalman filtering process 1300 can simply skip correctionphase 1330 and update the states 1311 and covariances 1312 using onlythe information from prediction phase 1320, and then begin again. Usingthe new definitions of the states 1311 and covariances 1312, Kalmanfiltering process 1300 is ready to begin again and/or to be iterativelyaccomplished.

Computer Readable Storage Medium

Unless otherwise specified, any one or more of the embodiments describedherein can be implemented using non-transitory computer readable storagemedium and computer readable instructions which reside, for example, incomputer-readable storage medium of a computer system or like device.The non-transitory computer readable storage medium can be any kind ofphysical memory that instructions can be stored on. Examples of thenon-transitory computer readable storage medium include but are notlimited to a disk, a compact disk (CD), a digital versatile device(DVD), read only memory (ROM), flash, and so on. As described above,certain processes and operations of various embodiments of the presentinvention are realized, in one embodiment, as a series of computerreadable instructions (e.g., software program) that reside withinnon-transitory computer readable storage memory of a cellular device100, 200 (FIGS. 1A-2) and are executed by a hardware processor of thecellular device 100, 200. When executed, the instructions cause acomputer system to implement the functionality of various embodiments ofthe present invention. For example, the instructions can be executed bya central processing unit associated with the cellular device 100, 200.According to one embodiment, the non-transitory computer readablestorage medium is tangible.

Unless otherwise specified, one or more of the various embodimentsdescribed herein can be implemented as hardware, such as circuitry,firmware, or computer readable instructions that are stored onnon-transitory computer readable storage medium. The computer readableinstructions of the various embodiments described herein can be executedby a hardware processor, such as central processing unit, to cause thecellular device 100, 200 to implement the functionality of variousembodiments. For example, according to one embodiment, the SUPL client101 and the operations of the flowcharts 400-1100 depicted in FIGS. 4-11are implemented with computer readable instructions that are stored oncomputer readable storage medium, which can be tangible ornon-transitory or a combination thereof, and can be executed by ahardware processor 109 of a cellular device 100, 200.

II. Improving Position Determination of a Cellular Device Using CarrierPhase Smoothing Overview of Discussion

At times a current position fix can differ significantly from one ormore previous position fixes or succeeding position fixes, or acombination of previous position fixes and succeeding position fixes. Aposition fix that differs significantly from one or more previousposition fixes or succeeding position fixes, or a combination thereof,is referred to as an “outlier.” Further, locally measured movementinformation obtained, for example, from hardware, such as anaccelerometer or an image capturing device, may be used to validate theaccuracy of a position fix, to discard a position fix that is an“outlier,” or to calculate a new position fix that can replace thediscarded position fix, or a combination there of.

A position fix may be determined to be an “outlier” based on theaccuracy of that position fix. Validating accuracy of a position fix,discarding a position fix that is an “outlier,” and calculating a newposition fix to replace a discarded position fix based on locallymeasured movement information are each examples of improving positiondetermine of a cellular device using locally measured movementinformation. A filter can be used to perform one or more of thevalidating of the accuracy of a position fix, the discarding of theposition fix, the calculating of a new position fix and the replacing ofthe discarded position fix.

The locally measured movement information that is used to determine toremove a position fix or to calculate a new position fix that willreplace the removed position fix can be from dissimilar kinds ofsensors. An accelerometer and an image capturing device are examples ofsensors that are dissimilar with respect to each other. A filter can beused to integrate (also known as “blend”) the locally measured movementinformation from the dissimilar sensors together, for example, usingweighting factors, as discussed herein.

Locally measured movement information, according to one embodiment, isinformation that includes measurements of movement where the movementand the measurements of the movement occur locally with respect to acellular device. For example, an accelerometer that is attached or partof a cellular device can be used to measurement the distance that thecellular device has moved. In another example, one or more imagesobtained with an image capturing device that is attached or part of thecellular device can be used to measure the distance the cellular devicehas moved.

According to various embodiments, there are at least two processes thatexecute concurrently. The first process extracts raw pseudorangeinformation, which is uncorrected and unsmoothed, from a GNSS chipsetembedded in the cellular device, determines position fix(es) based onthe extracted raw pseudoranges and optionally smoothes, for example, bydiscarding one or more of the position fix(es) using locally measuredmovement (LMM) information. The extracted raw pseudoranges may becorrected based on external corrections prior to determining theposition fix(es). Examples of external corrections include WAAS, SBAS,DGPS, PPP, RTK, VRS and RTX corrections. External corrections areobtained from sources that are external to the cellular device.

The second process extracts raw pseudorange information, smoothes theextracted raw pseudorange information using carrier phase information,which may be either real or reconstructed carrier phase information,determines one or more position fixes based on the smoothed pseudorangeinformation, and optionally performs additional smoothing by applyinglocally measured movement (LMM) information to one or more positionfix(es). According to one embodiment, real carrier phase information ispreferred over reconstructed carrier phase information. The smoothedpseudoranges (also referred to as “carrier phase smoothed pseudoranges”)may be corrected based on external corrections prior to determining aposition fix.

Carrier phase smoothing can be used to discard pseudoranges with largerchanges in apparent size than might be expected, due to a variety ofimpairments, well-known in the Global Positioning arts. Locally measuredmovement (LMM) information can be used for determining which of theposition fix(es) exhibit unexpected and unwanted changes. A position fixthat exhibits unexpected or unwanted changes is an “outlier.” Theprocess of filtering (also known as “smoothing”) position fixesinvolves, according to one embodiment, examining position fixes todetermine which position fixes are “outliers,” and discarding positionfixes that are “outliers.” Position fixes are smoothed as a part ofapplying locally measured movement (LMM) information to position fixes,according to one embodiment.

Typically it takes substantially longer to provide a position fix usingthe second process than with the first process because the secondprocess gathers enough, such as a predetermined amount, carrier phaseinformation to smooth the extracted raw pseudoranges before providing aposition fix. Therefore, according to various embodiments, one or moreposition fixes may be provided using the first process while waiting forthe second process to be capable of providing a position fix. Further,if carrier phase smoothing becomes unavailable or unreliable while usingthe second process, subsequent position fix(es) can be provided to theuser from the first process instead of the second process. If carrierphase smoothing becomes available and reliable while using the firstprocess to provide position fix(es), subsequent position fix(es) can beprovided to the user from the second process instead of the firstprocess. Thus, the providing of position fix(es) to a user can beswitched between the two processes depending, for example, on whethercarrier phase information is available and reliable.

According to one embodiment, the first process determines a first set ofone or more position fixes based on the extracted raw pseudorangeinformation and the second process determines carrier phase smoothedpseudoranges by smoothing the extracted raw pseudorange informationbased on carrier phase information, while the first process and thesecond process are executing concurrently.

According to one embodiment, a preference hierarchy of options is usedas follows where the hierarchy is ordered from highest preference toleast preference: (1) smoothed corrected pseudoranges that were smoothedbased on real carrier phase information, (2) smoothed correctedpseudoranges that were smoothed based on reconstructed carrier phaseinformation, (3) unsmoothed corrected pseudoranges, and (4) unsmootheduncorrected pseudoranges. The particular option that is used depends,for example, on what information is available. For example, real carrierphase information will be used if it is available. If it is notavailable, but Doppler Shift Information is available, thenreconstructed carrier phase information will be used. If externalcorrections are available, the pseudoranges might be corrected. Ifexternal corrections are not available, the pseudoranges will not becorrected.

FIG. 14 depicts a flow chart 1400 with at least two processes executingconcurrently for providing position fix(es), according to variousembodiments.

As depicted in FIG. 14, an example of a first process includes one ormore of operations 1413, 1416, 1418, optionally 1424, 1423, and 1426.One example of a second process includes one or more of operations 1413,1416, 1415, 1428, optionally 1424, 1423, 1418, 1417, 1427, 1421,optionally 1424, 1423, and 1426.

Examples of raw observables are raw pseudoranges, real carrier phaseinformation and Doppler Shift Information. According to variousembodiments, the raw pseudoranges are smoothed using real carrier phaseinformation if real carrier phase information is available. If realcarrier phase information is not available and Doppler Shift Informationis available, the raw pseudoranges are smoothed using reconstructedcarrier phase information that was reconstructed using Doppler ShiftInformation. If neither Real Carrier Phase Information nor Doppler ShiftInformation is available, then the raw pseudoranges may be correctedfrom external correction data sources, a position fix determined, andthen the position fix can be smoothed using locally measured movementinformation.

Flow chart 1400 includes two major operations 1410 and 1420. Forexample, at 1405 the method begins and proceeds to the first majoroperation 1410. The first major operation is 1410 where raw observablesare obtained and stored. The obtained raw observables can be stored inmemory 210. Processing proceeds to the second major operation 1420. Thesecond major operation processes raw observables 1420.

The two major operations 1410 and 1420 each include additionaloperations, according to various embodiments. For example, obtaining andstoring raw observables 1410 includes operations 1411-1418 andprocessing raw observables 1420 includes operations 1421-1428.

Processing of 1400 starts at 1405 and proceeds to 1412.

At 1412, a determination can be made as to whether raw pseudoranges areavailable. If raw pseudoranges are not available, a message can bedisplayed at 1411 indicating that position data is not available. If rawpseudoranges are available, processing can proceed from 1412 to 1413 and1416. At 1413, raw pseudoranges can be obtained and stored. The rawpseudoranges can be obtained by extracting them from a GNSS receiver.The obtained raw pseudoranges can be stored in memory 210. At 1416, adetermination can be made as to whether real carrier phase informationis available from the cellular device. The real carrier phaseinformation can be obtained by extracting it from a GNSS receiver. Theobtained real carrier phase information can be stored in memory 210. Ifthe cellular device is capable of providing real carrier phaseinformation, processing can proceed to 1415; otherwise, processing canproceed to 1418.

At 1415, a determination is made as to whether enough, such as apredetermined amount, of real carrier phase information is available toperform smoothing. If enough real carrier phase information isavailable, processing proceeds to 1428, which is a part of processingraw observables 1420. According to one embodiment, enough real carrierphase information or Doppler shift information is obtained beforepseudorange smoothing is performed.

At 1418, a determination is made as to whether Doppler shift information(DSI) is available. If Doppler shift information is available,processing proceeds to 1417. Doppler Shift information can be obtainedby extracting it from a GNSS receiver. The obtained Doppler ShiftInformation can be stored in memory 210. If Doppler Shift Information isnot available, processing proceeds to 1424, which is a part ofprocessing raw extracted observables 1420.

At 1416, a determination is made as to whether enough, such as apredetermined amount, of Doppler Shift Information is available. Ifenough Doppler Shift Information is available, processing proceeds to1427, which is a part of processing raw extracted observables 1420. Ifenough Doppler Shift Information is not available, processing proceedsto 1424, which is a part of processing raw observables.

Obtaining and processing raw extracted observables 1410 includes1411-1418. After processing 1415, 1417, and 1418, the raw extractedobservables have been obtained and stored 1410. The raw extractedobservables are processed at 1420, upon proceeding to 1427, 1428 and1424.

At 1428, the raw pseudoranges obtained at 1413 are smoothed with thereal carrier phase information that were obtained at 1415, according toone embodiment. Processing proceeds to 1424.

At 1427, the Doppler Shift Information obtained at 1417, is used toprovide reconstructed carrier phase information. Processing proceeds to1421.

At 1421, the pseudoranges obtained at 1413 are smoothed withreconstructed carrier phase information. Processing proceeds to 1424.

At 1424, external corrections can optionally be applied to unsmootheduncorrected pseudoranges obtained at 1418, smoothed uncorrectedpseudoranges obtained at 1421 or 1428. Processing proceeds to 1423.

At 1423, a position fix is calculated based on the pseudoranges, whichare any one of unsmoothed uncorrected pseudoranges from 1418, smootheduncorrected pseudoranges from 1421 or 1428, unsmoothed correctedpseudoranges from 1424 when 1424 is proceeded by either 1417 or 1418,and smoothed corrected pseudoranges from 1424 when 1424 is proceeded byeither 1428 or 1421.

At 1425, locally measured movement information can optionally applied tothe position fix calculated at 1423 to provide additional smoothing.Processing proceeds to 1426.

At 1426, the position fix is provided to the user. Processing proceedsto 1430.

At 1430, the method stops.

Raw observables can be or can become unreliable or unavailable for manyreasons, such as the cellular device being obstructed from receiving theGNSS signals containing the raw observables because it is under a tree,a structure or obscured by surroundings. However, there are otherreasons why the raw observables may be or may become unreliable orunavailable. A time threshold can be used to determine when enough, suchas a predetermined amount, data has been received, for example, at 1415and 1416 as a measure of reliability and availability, according tovarious embodiments. However, various embodiments are well suited tousing other metrics for determining reliability and availability such asconsistency of signal to noise ratio (SNR) and other metrics such asdilution of precision (DOP).

According to various embodiments, if raw pseudoranges are available(1412), the raw pseudoranges are smoothed (1421) using real carrierphase information if enough, such as a predetermined amount, realcarrier phase information is available (1416, 1415). According tovarious embodiments, the result of smoothing based on real carrier phaseinformation, smoothing based on reconstructed carrier phase informationor neither can be used to determine a position fix (1423), optionallycorrected by applying external corrections (1424), optionally smoothedusing locally measured movement information (1425) to provide a positionfix or an improved position fix (1426).

As can be seen, a position fix may be determined based on the rawpseudoranges using the path 1413, 1416, 1418, skip 1424, 1423, aposition fix may be determined based on smoothed pseudoranges that weresmoothed based on real carrier phase information using the path 1413,1416, 1415, 1428, optionally 1424, 1423, a position fix may bedetermined based on smoothed pseudoranges that were smoothed based onreconstructed carrier phase information using the path 1413, 1416, 1418,1417, 1427, 1421, optionally 1424, 1423. A position fix may bedetermined based on corrected pseudoranges, uncorrected pseudoranges,unsmoothed pseudoranges, smoothed pseudoranges, or a combinationthereof.

According to one embodiment, the position fix, that is output at 1425,is a locally measured movement smoothed position fix. According to oneembodiment, smoothed pseudoranges are determined at 1428 by applyingcarrier phase information to the raw pseudoranges. According to oneembodiment, a carrier phase smoothed position fix is determined at 1423based on the smoothed pseudoranges. According to one embodiment,operation 1425 performs processing the position fix based on the locallymeasured cellular device movement information.

As discussed herein, processing can switch between the first process andthe second process, as discussed herein. According to one embodiment,the first process can provide a quicker and less expensive position fixthan the second process because, for example, it uses less processingpower. The second process can provide a higher accuracy position fix,for example, because the raw position fixes are smoothed with carrierphase information. Further, either one of the first process or thesecond process can be turned off, for example, when it is not being usedto save power.

Systems for Improving Pseudoranges by Filtering the ExtractedPseudorange Information

FIG. 15A depicts a block diagram of a cellular device 1500A forproviding improved position fix determination, according to oneembodiment. Examples of a cellular device 1500A include a cell phone, anon-voice enabled cellular device, a tablet computer, and a mobilehand-held GNSS receiver. The cellular device 1500A may be mobile orstationary. Examples of a tablet computer are Microsoft Surface, AppleiPads, Apple iPad mini, Samsung Galaxy Tab families. According to oneembodiment, a cellular device is a mobile communications device (MCD)with cellular communications capabilities (also referred to as a“cellular communication enabled mobile communications device”).According to one embodiment, a mobile communications device hascommunications capabilities, such as Wi-Fi or Bluetooth, or acombination thereof. According to one embodiment, a mobilecommunications device includes or communicates with one or more of acamera, compass, and accelerometer. Examples of a mobile communicationsdevice are tablet computers, laptops with detachable tablets, personaldigital assistants, Trimble Juno, and similar devices.

As depicted in FIG. 15A, the cellular device 1500A includes a GNSSchipset 170, a GNSS receiver 107, a processor 172 that is part of theGNSS receiver 107, a chipset accessor 141, accessing logic 1510A,accessing logic 110B, pseudorange information extractor logic 142, animproved accuracy Secure User Platform Location (SUPL) client 1501A, apseudorange information bridger logic 143, control logic 1520A, apseudorange information processing logic 1550A, an operating system 160,a location manager logic 161, a location displayer logic 162, hardware1580A that is outside of the GNSS receiver 107.

According to one embodiment, the hardware 1580A includes a hardwareprocessor 109, hardware memory 210, accelerometer 1502A, and imagecapturing device 1540G. Raw observables, such as raw pseudoranges, realcarrier phase information, Doppler Shift Information, data, such ascorrected pseudoranges, uncorrected pseudoranges, smoothed pseudoranges,unsmoothed pseudoranges, or a combination thereof, can be stored inmemory 210 and processed using one or more hardware processors 109.According to one embodiment, the cellular device includes at least onehardware processor 109. According to one embodiment, the cellular deviceincludes at least one hardware sensor, such as 1502A, 1540G.

Examples of an image capturing device 1540G (also referred to as an“imager”) are a camera, a video camera, a digital camera, a digitalvideo camera, a digital camcorder, a stereo digital camera, a stereovideo camera, a motion picture camera, and a television camera. Theimage capturing device 1540G most often will use a lens, although use ofa pinhole type device is feasible. The image capture device may also bea separate unit not embedded in the cellular device's body. Such a unitmay be coupled to the cellular device's electronics via a cable or via aBluetooth wireless link. Cellular devices, such as cell phones, have amulti-purpose connector for recharging the battery and for inputting orexporting data of many kinds to and from the cellular device's processorand memory.

The images may or may not have been obtained with an image capturingdevice that is a video device. Therefore, the images may be individualimages taken with a non-video device or may be frames of a video takenwith a video device.

Examples of an accelerometer 1502A are an ADXL330/335 chipsetaccelerometer made by Analog Devices Inc. and a LIS3LV02DQ made bySTMicroelectronics. Many other such products are available and commonlyused in cellular devices, such as cellphones.

According to one embodiment, the processor 172 and the GNSS receiver 107are a part of the GNSS chipset 170. According to one embodiment, thechipset accessor 141, the accessing logic 1510A, the accessing logic1108, pseudorange information extractor logic 142, the pseudorangeinformation bridger logic 143, the improved accuracy SUPL client 1501A,the operating system 160, and the hardware 1580A are located in aportion of the cellular device 1500A that is outside of the GNSS chipset170. The location manager logic 161 can be a part of the operatingsystem 160 and external to the GNSS chipset 170. According to oneembodiment, the location displayer logic 162 is a part of the locationmanager logic 161. According to one embodiment, the chipset accessor141, the accessing logic 1510A, the accessing logic 1108, pseudorangeinformation extractor logic 142, the control logic 1520A, thepseudorange information processing logic 1550A, pseudorange informationbridger logic 143, and improved accuracy SUPL client 1501A areapplication programming interfaces (API) function applications thatreside in memory of the cellular device 1500A and are executed by aprocessor 109 of the cellular device 1500A.

According to one embodiment, the chipset accessor 141, the accessinglogic 1510A, the accessing logic 1108, the pseudorange informationextractor logic 142, the control logic 1520A, the pseudorangeinformation processing logic 1550A and pseudorange information bridgerlogic 143 are a part of an improved accuracy SUPL client 1501A. Forexample, The SUPL client 1501A can interface between the GNSS chipset170 and the location manager logic 161, which resides in the operatingsystem 160.

Many of the features depicted in FIG. 15A have already been describedherein. Therefore, in the interest of brevity, those features will notbe described again.

The Improved Accuracy SUPL Client 1501A can extract pseudorangeinformation from the GNSS chipset 170 in a similar manner that theimproved Accuracy SUPL client 101 can extract pseudorange information.

The pseudorange information processing logic 1550A, according to oneembodiment, provides improved position fix determination by performingone or more of determining the accuracy of a position fix, removing aposition fix that is an “outlier,” (also referred to as “filtering”),calculating a new position fix to replace the removed position fix. Thedetermination of the accuracy of a position fix, the removal of aposition fix that is an “outlier,” and the calculation of a new positionto replace a removed position fix are each performed based on locallymeasured movement (LMM) that is measured by hardware 1502A, 1540Gcoupled with the cellular device 1500A, according to variousembodiments. The output of the processing logic 1550A includes one ormore position fix(es) 1560C.

According to one embodiment, the control logic 1520A controls theimproving of the position fix determination using locally measuredmovement information. For example, the control logic 1520A can providethe processing directly itself or may communicate with other entities,such as the chipset accessor 141, the accessing logic 1510A, thepseudorange information processing logic 1550A, associated with thecellular device 1500A to provide the processing.

According to one embodiment, incidental errors in true, world positionor location in one or more of x, y, z, latitude, longitude, and altitudecan be corrected with data from an accelerometer 1502A. According to oneembodiment, an image capturing device 1540G can provide position shiftinformation as the image capturing device 1540G is moved. According toone embodiment, the information from the image capturing device 1540Gaccumulates errors more slowly than information from the accelerometer1502A. Errors in position shift information from the image capturingdevice occur due to extent of motion experienced, or distance traveled,as well as over time. For continuous travel, or constant motion, timepassed is a viable metric for estimating error buildup. When distancetraveled is small, as when a user is standing around, executing somemovement of the cellular device 1500A but over limited distance range,the time-out period for declaring a specific error buildup for the imagecapturing device 1540G can be extended by a factor that ranges from2-5-10. In an embodiment, integrating the use of the image capturingdevice 1540G and accelerometer 1502A may provide extended operationalcorrection time durations.

According to one embodiment, the accessing logic 1510A (FIG. 15 a)performs the operation 1410 (FIG. 14) of obtaining and storing rawobservables. According to one embodiment, the pseudorange informationprocessing logic 1550A (FIG. 15 a) performs the operation 1420 (FIG. 14)of processing raw observables.

According to one embodiment, a system is provided that comprises one ormore hardware processors 109 located in the cellular device 1500A andoutside of a Global Navigation Satellite System (GNSS) chipset 170embedded within the cellular device 1500A. The cellular device 1500Aincludes accessing logic 1108 that accesses the Global NavigationSatellite System (GNSS) chipset embedded within the cellular device,wherein the GNSS chipset calculates raw observables that include rawpseudoranges and either Doppler shift information or real carrier phaseinformation. The cellular device 1500A includes extracting logic 1128that extracts the raw observables from the GNSS chipset for processingelsewhere in the cellular device outside of the GNSS chipset. Thecellular device 1500A includes position fix determining based on rawobservables logic 170B that determines a position fix based on the rawobservables. The cellular device 1500A includes locally measuredmovement information accessing logic 1510B that obtains locally measuredcellular device movement information from at least one sensor that has aknown physical relationship with the cellular device. The cellulardevice 1500A includes processing logic 1550A that applies the locallymeasured cellular device movement information to the position fix. Theaccessing logic 1108, the extracting logic 1128, the position fixdetermining based on raw observables logic 170B, the locally measuredmovement information accessing logic 1510B, the processing logic 1550Aare executed by the one or more processor 109.

FIGS. 15B-15H depict portions of a cellular device 1500A for providingimproved position fix determination based on locally measured movementinformation, according to one embodiment.

Referring to FIG. 15B, the cellular device 1500A includes accessinglogic 1510A. The accessing logic 1510A includes locally measuredmovement information accessing logic 1510B. Optionally, the accessinglogic 1510A includes accessing logic 110B. As depicted in FIG. 1B,accessing logic 110B includes extracting logic 112B and receiving logic114B. The movement information accessing logic 1510B includesaccelerometer movement information accessing logic 1512A and imagecapturing device (ICD) movement information accessing logic 1512B.

FIG. 15C depicts processing logic 1550A, according to one embodiment.The processing logic 1550A includes determining position fix logic 170B,carrier phase reconstructing logic 1520C, raw pseudorange smoothingbased on CPI logic 1530C, limiting factor logic 1540C, and movementsensor smoothing logic 1510C. Optionally, the processing logic 1550Aincludes processing logic 150. The limiting factor logic 1540C includesaccelerometer limiting factor logic 1542C and ICD limiting factor logic1544C. The movement sensor smoothing logic 1510C includes accelerometersmoothing logic 1512C and ICD smoothing logic 1514C. The output of theprocessing logic 1550A is a position fix 1560C.

The processing logic 1550A, according to one embodiment, providesprovided pseudoranges that is one of smoothed uncorrected pseudoranges,smoothed corrected pseudoranges, unsmoothed corrected pseudoranges, andraw pseudoranges. According to one embodiment, determining position fixlogic 170B (also referred to as “position determination logic”)determines a position fix based on the provided pseudoranges.

According to one embodiment, the extracting logic 112 b extractsadditional raw pseudoranges from the GNSS chipset for processingelsewhere in the cellular device outside of the GNSS chipset; theposition fix determining logic 1708 further determines an additionalposition fix based on the additional raw pseudoranges; the locallymeasured movement information accessing logic 15108 further obtainsadditional locally measured cellular device movement information fromthe at least one sensor; and the movement sensor position fix smoothinglogic 1510C of the processing logic 1550A further applies the additionallocally measured cellular device movement information to the additionalposition fix if a limiting factor is not exceeded.

FIG. 15D depicts carrier phase reconstructing logic 1520C, according toone embodiment. The carrier phase reconstructing logic 1520C can beimplemented with integration logic 1522D or filter 1524D, or both. Theinput of the carrier phase reconstructing logic 1520C can be extractedDoppler shift information 1501D. The output of the carrier phasereconstructing logic 1520C can be reconstructed carrier phaseinformation 1502D. Either the integration logic 1522D or the filter1524D can receive the extracted Doppler shift information 1501D, processthe extracted Doppler shift information 1501D to create reconstructedcarrier phase information 1502D.

FIG. 15E depicts a raw pseudorange smoothing based on carrier phaseinformation (CPI) logic 1530C. The raw pseudorange smoothing based onCPI logic 1530C can include Hatch logic 1532E or filter 1534E, or both.The Hatch logic 1530A is described in U.S. Pat. No. 5,471,217 by Hatchet al., entitled “Method and Apparatus for Smoothing Coded Measurementsin a Global Positioning System Receiver,” filed Feb. 1, 1993,incorporated by reference herein, and the Hatch paper entitled “Thesynergism of GPS code and carrier measurements,” published in theProceedings of the Third International Geodetic symposium on satelliteDoppler Positioning, New Mexico, 1982: 1213-1232The Hatch method asdescribed in U.S. Pat. No. 5,471,217 can be implemented with or withouta filter. Therefore, the Hatch method may be used as a part ofimplementing the filter 1534E.

The input to the pseudorange smoothing based on CPI logic 1530C can beextracted raw pseudoranges 1501E and carrier phase information (CPI)1502E. The carrier phase information 1502E can be either real carrierphase information or reconstructed carrier phase information. The outputof the raw pseudorange smoothing based on CPI logic 1530C is smoothedpseudoranges 1503E. The raw pseudorange smoothing based on CPI logic1530C can smooth the extracted raw pseudoranges 1501E with the CPI usingeither the Hatch logic 1532E or the filter 1534E to provide the smoothedpseudoranges 1503E.

FIG. 15F depicts a movement sensor position fix smoothing logic 1510C.The movement sensor position fix smoothing logic 1510C includes a filter1512F. The inputs to the movement sensor position fix smoothing logic1510C can be position fixes 1501F and locally measured movementinformation 1502F. The output of the movement sensor position fixsmoothing logic 1510C is smoothed position fixes 1503F. The smoothedposition fixes 1503F are position fixes that locally measured movement(LMM) information has been applied to. Either or both of theaccelerometer smoothing logic 1512C and the ICD smoothing logic 1514Ccan be implemented with a filter 1512F.

According to various embodiments, the processing logic discards at leastone of the first set of position fixes based on the locally measuredmovement information, where the first process discards the at least oneof the first set of position fixes based on the locally measuredmovement information. According to various embodiments, the processinglogic discards at least one of the second set of position fixes based onthe locally measured movement information, where the second processdiscards the at least one of the second set of position fixes based onthe locally measured movement information. The discarding can beperformed by movement sensor position fix smoothing logic 1510C inprocessing logic 1550A.

According to various embodiments, the processing logic 1550A obtainsexternal corrections from a correction source that is external to thecellular device; provides, performed by the first process, correctedunsmoothed pseudoranges by applying the external corrections to theextracted raw pseudoranges; and determines, performed by the firstprocess, the first set of position fixes based on the correctedunsmoothed pseudoranges. According to various embodiments, theprocessing logic 1550A obtains external corrections from a correctionsource that is external to the cellular device; provides, performed bythe second process, as described herein, corrected smoothed pseudorangesby applying the external corrections to the carrier phase smoothedpseudoranges; and determines, performed by the second process, thesecond set of position fixes based on the corrected smoothedpseudoranges.

According to various embodiments, various filters, such as filters1524D, 1534E, 1512F, can be implemented using a Kalman Filter, robustestimation, least squares, particle filtering, Hough transform, RANSAC,sequential least squares, non-linear variants, such as sigma-editing,both a priori and a posteriori, and non-optimal (in a Gaussian sense)linear variants.

FIG. 15G depicts an image capturing device 1540G, for example, in a hipor belt mounted orientation, according to one embodiment. The imagecapturing device 1540G includes an entrance pupil 1542 g and an axis1543G that is at the center 1544G of the entrance pupil 1542 g. Threeaxes x, y and z are depicted in FIG. 15G. The x axis runs approximatelyparallel to the ground and parallel to the longer side of the imagecapturing device 1540G. The y axis runs approximately parallel to theground and parallel to the shorter side of the image capturing device1540G. The z axis is vertical to the ground and parallel to the gravityvector, which represents the pull of gravity toward the earth's surfaceand is widely used in coordinate measurement systems to provide at leastone degree of orientation for devices.

The image capturing device 1540G is in a hip, belt or hat mountedorientation. Therefore, the image plane 1550G that defines theorientation of an image captured with the image capturing device 1540Gwould be defined by the x axis and z axis and the ground plane 1560Gthat is approximately parallel to the ground would be defined by the xaxis and the y axis.

When the cellular device is held in a user's hand, the body of thecellular device is often tipped so that it is no longer in a verticalorientation. In this case, the image capture device may view the nearbyground as well as objects in the foreground. No loss of functionality ofposition shift motion detection occurs for the LMM system.

Photogrammetry is the practice of determining the geometric propertiesof objects from photographic images. In the simplest example, thedistance between two points that lie on a plane parallel to thephotographic image plane can be determined by measuring their distanceon the image, if the scale s of the image is known. This is done bymultiplying the measured distance by a scale factor 1/S.

One way of finding points uses features to identify the desired object,or point on a desired object. An example of an object is a door and anexample of points on the object are the corners of the door. The pointsmay be described by a “feature description” of the object. For example,the door's corners may be represented by a small collection of closelyassociated details, or image ‘bits’ which form a distinct andrecognizable image pattern. Modern image processing methods areavailable for identifying such grouping of image bits as “featurepoints.”

FIG. 15H depicts a block diagram of an apparatus 1510H and K images1524H, 1526H, through 1528H taken at respective locations using theimage capturing device 1540G, according to various embodiments. Theapparatus 1510H includes memory 210, processor 109, algorithm 1521H,mobile platform 1512H, 6′-Vector 1540H, navigation processor 107,additional navigation device 170, image capturing device 1540G, andlenses 1516H. According to one embodiment, the 6′-Vector 1540H includesthe position coordinates (x, y, z) as well as the orientation angles θ,φ, ψ.

The algorithm 1521H can include an algorithm that uses MatchMovesoftware, or improved algorithms such as the Sequential Rolling BundleAdjustment algorithm, as discussed herein. Sequential Rolling BundleAdjustment algorithm can be used to obtain coordinates and orientationof the image capturing device 1540G in real time, according to oneembodiment. Other types of MatchMove algorithms can be used foralgorithm 1521H that are well in the image processing arts.

FIG. 15H also depicts K images 1524H, 1526H, through 1528H in thei-frame: i is an integer, key-points I₁ 1530H, I₂ 1532H, i_(k) 1534H inthe respective images #1 1524H, #2 1526H, #K 1528H, position coordinates1542H (x_(i1), y_(i1), z_(i1)), 1544H (x_(i2), y_(i2), z_(i2)), 1546H(x_(ik), y_(ik), z_(ik)) for the respective key-points i₁, i₂, andi_(k).

In an embodiment, the additional navigation device 170 (including thenavigation processor 107) is configured to provide the initial positioncoordinates and orientation of the image capturing device 1540G.

The image capturing device 1540G is mounted on the mobile platform1512H. Examples of a mobile platform 1512H include a person, a car, atruck, a bike, a motorbike, a boat, etc. When the mobile platform 1512His a person, the apparatus 1510H can be attached to the person, forexample, using a belt, a hat or some other kind of coupling mechanism.The apparatus 1510H can be coupled to various parts of the person's bodysuch as at the hip, the head, other parts of the person's body.

The image capturing device 1540G is configured to perform image captureof a scene. The algorithm 1521H can be software instructions stored inmemory 210 and executed by the processor 109 or can be hardware, such asan ASIC chip (or FPGA chip) (in analog or digital modes). The algorithm1521H is used as a part of analyzing the set of K-images 1524H, 1526H, .. . 1528H collected in each i-frame.

Lens 1516H is for focusing. The focal length of lenses, i.e., thedistance between the rears of the lenses (when focused on infinity) theimaging device, determines the angle of the view, or the field of view(FOV) and the size of objects as they appear as images 1524H, 1526H, and. . . 1528H. The image is focused on that surface by adjusting thedistance between the lenses and the surface. Image capturing devicesused in cell phones typically have fixed focal length imaging systems.

In an embodiment, the calibrated image capturing device 1540G isconfigured to collect the K images 1524H, 1526H, through 1528H in thei-frame: i is an integer. In an embodiment within each of the K images(1524H, 1526H, through 1528H) key-points are identified. The key-pointsare the features that are common in multiple frames. For example, in thefirst frame the key-points are: the key-point I₁ 1530H in the image #11524H, the key point I₂ 1532H in the image #2 1526H, and key-point i_(k)1534H in the image #K 1528H. These key-points can be tracked in thefollowing frames as discussed herein.

In an embodiment, referring still to FIG. 15H, the obtained image datafor the key-points (i₁ 1530H in the image #1 1524H; i₂ 1532H in theimage #2 1526H; . . . i_(K) 1534H in the image #K 1528H) is used withinthe algorithm 1521H, as discussed herein, to estimate the position andorientation of the image capturing device 1540G: the ‘6’-vector 1540Hincluding the position coordinates (x, y, z) as well as the orientationangles ⊖, φ, ψ. The obtained image data for the key-points (i₁ 1530H inthe image #1 1524H; i₂ 1532H in the image #2 1526H; . . . i_(K) 1534H inthe image #K 1528H) is also used within the algorithm 1521H to obtainthe position coordinates of the key-points: position coordinates 1542H(x_(i1), y_(i1), z_(i1)) of the key-point the position coordinates 1544H(x_(i2), y_(i2), z_(i2)) of the key-point i₂; and the positioncoordinates 1546H (x_(ik), y_(ik), z_(ik)) of the key-point i_(k).

FIG. 15I depicts three points in a 3 dimensional (3D) field of viewrepresenting feature points on one or more objects, and their locationsin the image plane of the imaging device, according to one embodiment.For example, FIG. 15I depicts a two dimensional (2D) projections on a 2Dimage plane 1550G (S) of points in view a field of view of a real 3Denvironment. More specifically, FIG. 15I depicts a 2D projection 1534I(P′) of 3D point 1528I (P), which is a 2D projection 1530I (R′) of 3Dpoint 1524I(4), and 2D projection 1532I (Q′) of 3D point 1526I (Q) on animage plane 1550G (s) by using an image capturing device 1540G and thelines between the 2D projection points 1530I (R′), 1532I (Q′), 1534I(P′) and their respective 3D points 1524I (R), 1526I (Q), and 1528I (P)intersect at intersection 1544I. One or more points can be selected askey-points and the lines represent rays that can be bundled to form raybundles, as will be discussed in more detail hereinafter. Theintersection 1544I of the rays can be used to determine the 3D locationof the points 1524I (R), 1526I (Q), and 1528I (P) using triangulation.

FIG. 15J depicts a block diagram of a cellular device 1500J that iscoupled to an image capturing device 1540J that is external to thecellular device 1500J, according to one embodiment. Examples of acellular device 1500J include a cell phone, a non-voice enabled cellulardevice, a tablet computer, and a mobile hand-held GNSS receiver. Thecellular device 1500A may be mobile or stationary. Examples of a tabletcomputer are Microsoft Surface, Apple iPads, Apple iPad mini, SamsungGalaxy Tab families.

As depicted the cellular device 1500J is coupled or in communication, ora combination thereof, with image capturing device 1540J. The cellulardevice 1500J, according to various embodiments, can include one or moreof GNSS chipset 170, improved accuracy SUPL client 1501A, operatingsystem 160, and processor 109, memory 210, accelerometer 1502A.

The cellular device 1500J may or may not have an internal imagecapturing device 1540G of its own. Various embodiments as discussedherein, are well suited for the cellular device 1500J using LMMinformation from the external image capturing device 1540J. The imagecapturing device 1540J has a known physical relationship with thecellular device 1500J. For example, the physical relationship betweenthe external image capturing device 1540J is fixed, and, therefore, doesnot change with respective to the cellular device 1500J. The physicalrelationship can be known since it is fixed. The physical relationshipcan be known in terms of at least distance or orientation between theimage capturing device 1540J and the cellular device 1500J, or acombination thereof.

FIG. 16 depicts a block diagram of a cellular device 1600 for improvingposition fix determination based on locally measured movement (LMM)information, according to one embodiment. As depicted in FIG. 16, theGNSS chipset 170 is located on a system on a chip (SOC) substrate (SOCS)1690. Other entities such as 1501A, 160, and 1580A can also be locatedon the system on a chip substrate 1690.

As described herein, various types of information can be extracted fromthe GNSS receiver 107, such as pseudorange information, Doppler ShiftInformation, Real Carrier Phase Measurement, WAAS and SBAS. Other typesof processing information output by the GNSS receiver 107 can beignored.

A cellular device 1600's hardware architecture includes discreetphysical layout and interconnection of multiple chipsets for processingand for special purposes such as a GNSS chipset 170. In addition, newerarchitectures involve further integration of chipsets in the “system ona chip” (SoC) configuration. In this configuration, the GNSS chipset 170can still be a complete element capable of delivering a PVT (positionvelocity and time) solution. However in an embodiment, the pseudorangeinformation, carrier phase, and/or Doppler measurements, along with WAAScorrections if available, are extracted prior to further signalprocessing in the GNSS chipset 170 and are processed using differentalgorithms and corrections data for developing an improved accuracy PVTsolution. In so doing the deleterious effects of multipath and othererror sources may be minimized. Further the GNSS chipset 170 outputs areignored and not displayed when the external processing is employed andthe higher-accuracy PVT data is available.

Many of the features depicted in FIG. 16 have already been describedherein. Therefore, in the interest of brevity, those features will notbe described again.

FIG. 17 depicts a block diagram of a cellular device 1700 and multiplesources for providing positioning correction information to the cellulardevice 1700 for processing pseudorange information, according to oneembodiment. Many of the features depicted in FIG. 17 have already beendescribed herein. Therefore, in the interest of brevity, those featureswill not be described again. The cellular device 1700 also includes animage capturing device 1540G and an accelerometer 1502A.

Examples of a cellular device 1500A, 1500J, 1600, 1700 include a cellphone, a non-voice enabled cellular device, a tablet computer, and amobile hand-held GNSS receiver. The cellular device 1500A may be mobileor stationary. Examples of a tablet computer are Microsoft Surface,Apple iPads, Apple iPad mini, Samsung Galaxy Tab families. According toone embodiment, a cellular device is a mobile communications device(MCD) with cellular communications capabilities (also referred to as a“cellular communication enabled mobile communications device”).According to one embodiment, a mobile communications device hascommunications capabilities, such as Wi-Fi or Bluetooth, or acombination thereof. According to one embodiment, a mobilecommunications device includes or communicates with one or more of acamera, compass, and accelerometer. Examples of a mobile communicationsdevice are tablet computers, laptops with detachable tablets, personaldigital assistants, Trimble Geo-7, Trimble Juno, and similar devices.

The blocks that represent features in FIGS. 15A-17 can be arrangeddifferently than as illustrated, and can implement additional or fewerfeatures than what are described herein. Further, the featuresrepresented by the blocks in FIGS. 15A-17 can be combined in variousways. A cellular device 1500A, 1600, 1700 (FIGS. 15A-17) can beimplemented using software, hardware, hardware and software, hardwareand firmware, or a combination thereof. Further, unless specifiedotherwise, various embodiments that are described as being a part of thecellular device 1500A, 1600, 1700, whether depicted as a part of thecellular device 1500A, 1600, 1700 or not, can be implemented usingsoftware, hardware, hardware and software, hardware and firmware,software and firmware, or a combination thereof. Various blocks in FIGS.15A-17 refer to features that are logic, such as but not limited to,170, 1510A, 110B, 1520A, 1550A, 150, 1540C, 1510C, 1520C, 1530C, 1521H,which can be implemented using software, hardware, hardware andsoftware, hardware and firmware, software and firmware, or a combinationthereof.

The cellular device 1500A, 1500J, 1600, 1700, according to oneembodiment, includes hardware, such as one or more of the processor 109,memory 210, sensors 1502A and 1540G, and the GNSS chipset 170. Anexample of hardware memory 210 is a physically tangible computerreadable storage medium, such as, but not limited to a disk, a compactdisk (CD), a digital versatile device (DVD), random access memory (RAM)or read only memory (ROM) for storing instructions. An example of ahardware processor 109 for executing instructions is a centralprocessing unit. Examples of instructions are computer readableinstructions for implementing at least the SUPL Client 1501A that can bestored on a hardware memory 210 and that can be executed, for example,by one or more hardware processors 109. The SUPL client 1501A may beimplemented as computer readable instructions, firmware or hardware,such as circuitry, or a combination thereof.

APPLICATIONS

Various embodiments can be used for different types of applications oruses. For example, various embodiments could be used as a part of makinga movie, surveying, determining the location of the cellular device,tracking a person or tracking valuable moveable items.

Sequential Rolling Bundle Adjustment Method for Real Time ImageCapturing Device Pose Determination

Referring to FIG. 15G, image-based position tracking has been developedextensively to support movie-making. When inserting computer-generatedimages into movies for special effects, the graphics focal point must bealigned with the entrance pupil 1542G of the lens of the image capturingdevice 1540G. Any departure from perfect coincidence makes the final cutlook fake. Therefore, the location of the entrance pupil 1542G must becaptured in relation to the movie's environment. This means that thelocation [x, y, z] of the image capturing device 1540G and itsorientation in space [roll, pitch, and yaw, or Euler angles], must bedetermined and stored by an apparatus, such as a cellular device,associated with the image capturing device 1540G. Collectively, the sixparameters are referred to as obtaining the image capturing device1540G's “pose.” The method of choice is to use the imagery captureddirectly by an image capturing device 1540G that is a movie camera,however, various embodiments are also well suited using a sequence ofindividual images captured with an image capturing device 1540G that isnot a movie camera.

The process involves tracking objects in the field of view of the imagecapturing device 1540G from one image frame to the next via featuredetection methods, and then performing some mathematical processes todetermine where the entrance pupil 1542G has to be in order to “see” thetracked features in the next frame as they are seen in the next frameimage. The ray paths (also referred to as “rays”) from a feature on anexternal object pass through the entrance pupil 1542G and are capturedon the image capturing device 1540G. These ray paths from multiplefeatures form a group of lines, commonly called a bundle. The locationon the image plane 1550G for each feature is determined and stored foreach captured image 1524H, 1526H . . . 1528H. In the next imagecaptured, if the image capturing device 1540G has moved, the location ofthe features in the image have moved and thus the entire collection ofray paths has changed. Previously identified features are again found bya matching technique. Their location in the second image is estimated.To determine where the image capturing device 1540G has moved, the firstimage 1524H's feature points are compared to their respective newlocations in the second image 1526H and so on between subsequent imagepairs. The comparison is done by creating a transformation or conversionmatrix, which deals with all the data available. The transformationmatrix also creates an estimate of the error in location for eachfeature data point from first image to second image. The image capturingdevice 1540G's location is adjusted iteratively until the errors arereduced as much as possible. When a suitable error minimum is achieved,the new location of the image capturing device 1540G is found, for thepoint where the second image 1526H was taken. Essentially the locationof the entrance pupil 1542G is moved until many of the ray paths passthrough the same point at the entrance pupil 1542G. The mathematicaltechniques are well-known and referred to in the literature as “bundleadjustments.” and the family of computer programs developed to supportthis activity are often referred to as MatchMove. However, thiscanonical approach to performing bundle adjustments is a kind of bruteforce approach and requires a lot of computer processing. The terms ofart used herein include: Full Bundle Adjustment, Rolling BundleAdjustment, and Sequential Rolling Bundle Adjustment. Sequential rollingbundle adjustment achieves sufficient processing speed to enablereal-time operation in an image capturing device 1540G and processor.

Typically a range of images is processed together, where the range ofimages anywhere from 10 to 50 and all data is used and processed. Recentdevelopments have enabled real-time processing via a simpler alternateiterative method for incrementally determining the bundle adjustments bysimply deleting the oldest image and adding one new image and then usingan alternative mathematical method for determining the incrementalchange in image capturing device 1540G's pose that does not require asmuch computation. When implemented in a cellular device, the locationshifts and orientation shifts that occur while the user, or otherplatform for the image capturing device 1540G, is moving can now becaptured in real time.

The new method is known as “Sequential Rolling Bundle Adjustment,” andis fully described in a patent application with U.S. patent applicationSer. No. 13/954,995, attorney docket number A-4134/Tank-332, by Shawn D.Weisenburger titled “Sequential Rolling Bundle Adjustment” filed Jul.31, 2013 and assigned to the same assignee as this current application.A summary of the method follows.

Referring to FIG. 29, the image capturing device 1540G can be modeled bya pinhole camera 2908 that captures light beams 2904 and 2906 passingthrough the pinhole 2902 for purposes of explanation.

Referring to FIG. 15H, in an embodiment of the present technology, thelens 1516H further comprises regular rectilinear lens. Rectilinear lensis a lens in which straight lines are not substantially curved ordistorted. Such lenses are commonly found in cell phone cameras.

In an embodiment of the present technology, the lens 1516H furthercomprises a fisheye lens. A fisheye lens is a wide-angle lens that takesin an extremely wide, hemispherical image. Fisheye lenses are often usedto shoot broad landscapes. Fisheye lenses achieve extremely wide anglesof view by forgoing a rectilinear image, opting instead for a specialmapping (for example: equisolid angle), which gives images acharacteristic convex appearance. A fisheye lens may be added to a cellphone camera via a clip-on device such as found in the product calledthe Olloclip; information about this product can be found atwww.olloclip.com/product.

In an embodiment of the present technology, the image capturing device1540G further comprises a stereo digital camera. A stereo camera is atype of camera with two or more lenses. This allows the camera tosimulate binocular vision, and therefore gives it the ability to capturethree-dimensional images, a process known as stereo photography. Cellphone cameras may be augmented by an image-combining device whichemulates a true stereo camera by using a pair of lens separated by ashort distance that provides two images delivered to the camera imager,which may be processed as a stereo pair. A device providing this stereoimaging capability is offered by HolgaDirect called the Holga 3D LensSet for an Iphone; information about this device can be found athttp://shop.holgadirect.com/products/holga-3d-set-lens-kit-iphone-4-5#.Stereo images may be processed via photogrammetric methods to revealdimensional information about the objects in view, as well as distanceinformation from image capturing device to an object.

In an embodiment of the present technology, referring still to FIG. 15H,the image capturing device 1540G (camera) is calibrated. Thiscalibration is used to correct the images for lens 1516H distortions.Typical calibrations correct for principal distance (focal length),principal point offset, radial distortion, tangential distortion, andother effects that can be found in any text book on photogrammetry. Allimage measurements are corrected with these calibration parameters.

In an embodiment of the present technology, referring still to FIG. 15H,the calibrated image capturing device 1540G is configured to capture ani-th frame including K sub-images (1524H, 1526H, through 1528H); i is aninteger.

In an embodiment of the present technology, referring still to FIG. 15H,within each of K sub-images (1524H, 1526H, through 1528H) the key-pointsis identified. The key-points are the features that are common inmultiple frames. For example, in the first frame the key-points are: thekey-point i₁ 1530H in the sub-image #1 1524H, the key-point i₂ 1532H inthe sub-image #2 1526H, and key-point i_(K) 1534H in the sub-image #K1528H. These key-points should be tracked in the following frames.

In an embodiment of the present technology, referring still to FIG. 15H,the obtained image data for the key-points (i₁ 1530H in the sub-image #11524H; i₂ 1532H in the sub-image #2 1526H; . . . i_(K) 1534H in thesub-image #K 1528H) is used within the bundle adjustment algorithm toestimate the position and orientation of the image capturing device1540G: the ‘6’-vector 1540H including the position coordinates (x, y, z)as well as the orientation angels θ, φ, and ψ.

In an embodiment of the present technology, referring still to FIG. 15H,the obtained image data for the key-points (i₁ 1530H in the sub-image #11524H; i₂ 1532H in the sub-image #2 1526H; . . . i_(K) 1534H in thesub-image #K 1528H) is also used to obtain the position coordinates ofthe key-points: position coordinates 1542H (x_(i1), y_(i1), z_(i1)) ofthe key-point i₁, the position coordinates 1544H (x_(i2), y_(i2),z_(i2)) of the key-point i₂, and so on; and finally, the positioncoordinates 1546H (x_(iK), y_(iK), z_(iK)) of the key-point i_(K).

In an embodiment of the present technology, referring still to FIG. 15H,the algorithm 1521H includes the sequential rolling bundle adjustmentalgorithm, which is the further development of the full bundleadjustment algorithm.

Given a set of images depicting a number of 3-D points from differentviewpoints, the bundle adjustment can be defined as the problem ofsimultaneously refining the 3-D coordinates describing the scenegeometry as well as the parameters of the relative motion and theoptical characteristics of the image capturing device 1540G (FIG. 15H)employed to acquire these images, according to an optimality criterioninvolving the corresponding image projections of all points.

The correspondence problem refers to the problem of ascertaining whichparts of one image (or frame) correspond to which parts of subsequentimage (or frame), where differences are due to movement of the camera,the elapse of time, and/or movement of objects in the photos. Morespecifically, given two or more images (or frames) of the same 3-Dscene, taken from different points of view and at different time, thecorrespondence problem refers to the task of finding a set of points inone frame which can be identified as the same points in anothersubsequent frame.

The correspondence problem can occur in a stereo situation when twoimages of the same scene are used, or can be generalized to the N-viewcorrespondence problem. In the latter case, the images may come eitherfrom N different image capturing devices 1540G (cameras) photographingat the same time or from one image capturing device 1540G (camera) whichis moving relative to the scene and collecting the image data fromN-frames. The problem is made more difficult when the objects in thescene are in motion relative to the image capturing device(s) 1540G.

There are two basic ways to find the correspondences between two images:the correlation-based method, and the feature based method.

The correlation-based method includes checking if one location in oneimage looks/seems like another in another image.

The feature-based method includes finding features in an image andseeing if the layout of a subset of features is similar in the twoimages. To avoid the aperture problem a good feature should have localvariations in two directions.

Example I

To find the correspondence between set A [1,2,3,4,5] and set B[3,4,5,6,7] find where they overlap and how far off one set is from theother. Here we see that the last three numbers in set A correspond withthe first three numbers in set B. This shows that B is offset 2 to theleft of A.

In most camera configurations, finding correspondences requires a searchin two-dimensions. However, if the two cameras are aligned to becoplanar, the search is simplified to one dimension—a horizontal lineparallel to the line between the cameras. Furthermore, if the locationof a point in the left image is known, it can be searched for in theright image by searching left of this location along the line, and viceversa).

To perform the simplified search in one dimension, an imagerectification is used to perfect cameras' alignment. Image rectificationis usually performed regardless of camera precision because it may beimpractical to perfectly align cameras, and even perfectly alignedcameras may become misaligned over time.

If the images to be rectified are taken from camera pairs withoutgeometric distortion, a linear transformation can be used including: (i)X & Y rotation that puts the images on the same plane, (ii) scaling thatmakes the images to be of the same size, and (iii) Z rotation & skewadjustments are made to make the image pixel rows directly line up.

In performing the linear transform, if the cameras themselves arecalibrated for internal parameters, an essential matrix provides therelationship between the cameras.

The more general case (without camera calibration) is represented by thefundamental matrix. If the fundamental matrix is not known, it isnecessary to find preliminary point correspondences between stereoimages to facilitate its extraction.

There are basically three algorithms for image rectification: planarrectification, cylindrical rectification, and polar rectification. Asimple method is to compare small patches between rectified images. Thisworks best with images taken with roughly the same point of view andeither at the same time or with little to no movement of the scenebetween image captures, such as stereo images.

A small window is passed over a number of positions in one image,according to one embodiment. Each position is checked to see how well itcompares with the same location in the other image. Also several nearbylocations are also compared for the objects in one image may not be atexactly the same image-location in the other image. It is possible thatthere is no fit that is good enough. This may mean that the feature isnot present in both images, it has moved farther than your searchaccounted for; it has changed too much, or is being hidden by otherparts of the image.

The Hough transform (mostly used in the scale-invariant featuretransform) is an algorithm important in understanding the full bundleadjustment algorithm. More specifically, the Hough transform is afeature extraction technique used in image analysis, computer vision,and digital image processing.

The purpose of the Hough transform technique is to find imperfectinstances of objects within a certain class of shapes by a votingprocedure. This Hough voting procedure is carried out in a parameterspace, from which object candidates are obtained as local maxima in aso-called accumulator space that is explicitly constructed by thealgorithm for computing the Hough transform.

The classical Hough transform was concerned with the identification oflines in the image, but later the Hough transform has been extended toidentifying positions of arbitrary shapes, most commonly circles orellipses.

There are several examples of a feature-based 3-D reconstructionalgorithm.

Scale-invariant feature transform (or SIFT) is an algorithm in computervision designed to detect and describe local features in images. Thealgorithm was published by David Lowe in 1999. This algorithm uses theHough transform. Applications include object recognition, roboticmapping and navigation, image stitching, 3-D modeling, gesturerecognition, video tracking, individual identification of wildlife andmatch moving. The algorithm is patented in the US; the owner is theUniversity of British Columbia. Please, see U.S. Pat. No. 6,711,293,entitled “Method and apparatus for identifying scale invariant featuresin an image and use of same for locating an object in an image” andissued to David G. Lowe.

According to the scale-invariant feature transform (or SIFT) algorithm,for any object in an image, interesting points on the object can beextracted to provide a “feature description” of the object. Thisdescription, extracted from a training image, can then be used toidentify the object when attempting to locate the object in a test imagecontaining many other objects. To perform reliable recognition, it isimportant that the features extracted from the training image bedetectable even under changes in image scale, noise and illumination.Such points usually lie on high-contrast regions of the image, such asobject edges.

Another important characteristic of these features is that the relativepositions between them in the original scene shouldn't change from oneimage to another. For example, if only the four corners of a door wereused as features, they would work regardless of the door's position; butif points in the frame were also used, the recognition would fail if thedoor is opened or closed. Similarly, features located in articulated orflexible objects would typically not work if any change in theirinternal geometry happens between two images in the set being processed.

However, in practice SIFT detects and uses a much larger number offeatures from the images, which reduces the contribution of the errorscaused by these local variations in the average error of all featurematching errors.

Lowe's patented method can robustly identify objects even among clutterand under partial occlusion because his SIFT feature descriptor isinvariant to uniform scaling, orientation, and partially invariant toaffine distortion and illumination changes. This section summarizesLowe's object recognition method and mentions a few competing techniquesavailable for object recognition under clutter and partial occlusion.

SIFT key-points of objects are first extracted from a set of referenceimages and stored in a database. An object is recognized in a new imageby individually comparing each feature from the new image to thisdatabase and finding candidate matching features based on Euclideandistance of their feature vectors. From the full set of matches, subsetsof key-points that agree on the object and its location, scale, andorientation in the new image are identified to filter out good matches.The determination of consistent clusters is performed rapidly by usingan efficient hash table implementation of the generalized Houghtransform. Each cluster of 3 or more features that agree on an objectand its pose is then subject to further detailed model verification andsubsequently outliers are discarded. Finally the probability that aparticular set of features indicates the presence of an object iscomputed, given the accuracy of fit and number of probable falsematches. Object matches that pass all these tests can be identified ascorrect with high confidence.

“Match moving” is another 3-D reconstruction algorithm. Incinematography, match moving is a cinematic technique that allows theinsertion of computer graphics into live-action footage with correctposition, scale, orientation, and motion relative to the photographedobjects in the shot.

Match moving is primarily used to track the movement of a camera througha shot so that an identical virtual camera move can be reproduced in a3-D animation program. When new animated elements are composited backinto the original live-action shot, they will appear inperfectly-matched perspective and therefore appear seamless.

By using SIFT or a match moving algorithm to analyze a set of image datacaptured by an image capturing device 1540G, it is possible to obtainthe combination of position and orientation, or pose, of an object.

The pose can be described by means of a rotation and translationtransformation which brings the object from a reference pose to theobserved pose. This rotation transformation can be represented indifferent ways, e.g., as a rotation matrix or a quaternion.

The specific task of determining the pose of an object in an image (orstereo images, image sequence) is referred to as pose estimation. Thepose estimation problem can be solved in different ways depending on theimage sensor configuration, and choice of methodology. Three classes ofmethodologies can be distinguished: analytic or geometric methods,genetic algorithm methods, and learning-based methods.

By using analytic or geometric methods, the image sensor (camera) iscalibrated by using the mapping from 3-D points in the scene to the 2-Dpoints in the image. If the geometry of an object is known, theprojected image of the object on the camera image is a well-knownfunction of the object's pose. Once a set of control points on theobject, typically corners or other feature points, has been identifiedit is then possible to solve the pose transformation from a set ofequations which relate the 3-D coordinates of the points with their 2-Dimage coordinates.

The Bundle adjustment algorithm is used as the last step of everyfeature-based 3-D reconstruction algorithm. It amounts to anoptimization problem on the 3-D structure and viewing parameters (i.e.,camera pose and possibly intrinsic calibration and radial distortion),to obtain a reconstruction which is optimal under certain assumptionsregarding the noise pertaining to the observed image features.

If the image error is zero-mean Gaussian, then bundle adjustment is theMaximum Likelihood Estimator. Its name refers to the bundles of lightrays originating from each 3-D feature and converging on each camera'soptical center, which are adjusted optimally with respect to both thestructure and viewing parameters.

In statistics, Maximum-Likelihood estimation (MLE) is a method ofestimating the parameters of a statistical model. When applied to a dataset and given a statistical model, maximum-likelihood estimationprovides estimates for the model's parameters.

In general, for a fixed set of data and underlying statistical model,the method of maximum likelihood selects the set of values of the modelparameters that maximizes the likelihood function. Intuitively, thismaximizes the “agreement” of the selected model with the observed data,and for discrete random variables it indeed maximizes the probability ofthe observed data under the resulting distribution. Maximum-likelihoodestimation gives a unified approach to estimation, which is well-definedin the case of the normal distribution and many other problems.

Bundle adjustment boils down to minimizing the re-projection errorbetween the image locations of observed and predicted image points,which is expressed as the sum of squares of a large number of nonlinear,real-valued functions.

The re-projection error is a geometric error corresponding to the imagedistance between a projected point and a measured one. It is used toquantify how closely an estimate of a 3-D point recreates the point'strue projection.

Minimizing the re projection error can be used for estimating the errorfrom point correspondences between two images. The correspondences canbe interpreted as imperfect images of a world point and there-projection error quantifies their deviation from the true imageprojections.

Thus, the minimization of the re projection error can be achieved byusing nonlinear least-squares algorithms. Of these, Levenberg-Marquardthas proven to be one of the most successful due to its ease ofimplementation and its use of an effective damping strategy that lendsit the ability to converge quickly from a wide range of initial guesses.

Marquardt recommended starting with a value λ₀ and a factor v>1.Initially setting λ=λ₀ and computing the residual sum of squares afterone step from the starting point with the damping factor of λ=λ₀ andsecondly with λ₀/v. If both of these are worse than the initial pointthen the damping is increased by successive multiplication by v until abetter point is found with a new damping factor of λ₀v^(k) for some k.

If use of the damping factor λ/v results in a reduction in squaredresidual then this is taken as the new value of λ (and the new optimumlocation is taken as that obtained with this damping factor) and theprocess continues; if using λ/v resulted in a worse residual, but usingλ resulted in a better residual, then λ is left unchanged and the newoptimum is taken as the value obtained with λ as damping factor.

When solving the minimization problems arising in the framework ofbundle adjustment, the normal equations have a sparse block structureowing to the lack of interaction among parameters for different 3-Dpoints and cameras. This can be exploited to gain tremendouscomputational benefits by employing a sparse variant of theLevenberg-Marquardt algorithm which explicitly takes advantage of thenormal equations zeros pattern, avoiding storing and operating on zeroelements.

Bundle adjustment amounts to jointly refining a set of initial cameraand structure parameter estimates for finding the set of parameters thatmost accurately predict the locations of the observed points in the setof available images.

The full bundle adjustment is the optimal solution and makes use of allimages. However, it requires all images to be collected before anyprocessing can be completed and is not a real-time solution.

In the pair-wise or triplet pose change technique, only 2 or 3 imagesare used to estimate the change in position and orientation over theimage set. When summed up over many images, a trajectory can beestimated. For example, see the U.S. Pat. No. 7,336,814 entitled “Methodand apparatus for machine-vision.” However, the solution provided bythis a technology is prone to drift over time due to the loss ofconnection between even 2 or 3 images over time.

Kalman filter also can be used to estimate the current position andorientation (pose) of an object.

More specifically, the Kalman filter, also known as linear quadraticestimation (LQE), is an algorithm that uses a series of measurementsobserved over time, containing noise (random variations) and otherinaccuracies, and produces estimates of unknown variables that tend tobe more precise than those based on a single measurement alone.

The Kalman filter algorithm works in a two-step process. In theprediction step, the Kalman filter produces estimates of the currentstate variables, along with their uncertainties. Once the outcome of thenext measurement (necessarily corrupted with some amount of error,including random noise) is observed, these estimates are updated using aweighted average, with more weight being given to estimates with highercertainty. Because of the algorithm's recursive nature, it can run inreal time using only the present input measurements and the previouslycalculated state; no additional past information is required.

From a theoretical standpoint, the main assumption of the Kalman filteris that the underlying system is a linear dynamical system and that allerror terms and measurements have a Gaussian distribution (often amultivariate Gaussian distribution).

However, a solution provided by the Kalman drifts over time due to lossof connection between images thus making it difficult to use the Kalmanfilter for real time applications.

The present technology of the rolling bundle adjustment is animprovement over the prior art techniques of bundle adjustment algorithmbecause it allows to significantly decrease the amount of computationtime thus making possible the real time estimation of the pose of theimage capturing device 1540G.

Indeed, as it is fully explained below, with each new frame, the rollingbundle adjustment algorithm prescribes removing the position andorientation states associated with the oldest frame and adding positionand orientation states for the new frame. An initial estimate of thecurrent frames position and orientation can be made by simply using theprevious frames position and orientation estimate. The image locationsof the key-points from the last frame are then identified in the newframe. These image measurements are then added to the estimation processusing the method of sequential least squares which is much moreefficient than completely running the bundle adjustment on the last Nframes.

In the embodiment of the present technology, as shown in FIG. 15H, thegeneral processor 109 of FIG. 15H is configured to execute the algorithm1521H further comprising a rolling bundle adjustment algorithm. Therolling bundle adjustment algorithm computes a bundle adjustment using Nframes every time a new frame is available. This is the starting pointfor this new technique, however the rolling bundle adjustment algorithmuses sequential least squares to add the new frame rather thancompletely redo the bundle adjustment.

The rolling bundle adjustment algorithm of the present technology (alsoreferred to as “sequential rolling bundle adjustment”) is basically across between a Kalman filter and the rolling bundle adjustment.Although implemented using sequential least squares, the mathematics areidentical to a Kalman filter that retains the previous N−1 frameposition and orientation states.

Example II

FIG. 28 illustrates a frame from the video sequence 2860 including a setof sib-images 2886, 2888, and 2890 taken from a Nikon D 800 camera usinga 35 mm lens. Each sub-image includes at least four key-points:sub-image 2886 includes the key-points 2862, 2864, 2866 and 2868,sub-image 2890 includes the key-points 2878, 2880, 2882 and 2884, andsub-image 2888 includes the key-points 2870, 2872, 2874 and 2876. Thecamera was set to collect 720 p video (1280×720) at 25 frames persecond. Calibration parameters for the camera/lens were pre-computedusing the Open CV camera calibration routines. It should be noted thatthe calibration parameters may also be estimated on the fly as part ofthe process, however this was not done in this test. The round targets(1000-1011) (or key-points 2862, 2864, 2866 2868, 2870, 2872, 2874,2876, 2878, 2880, 2882 and 2884), were tracked throughout the sequencewhile the camera was moved (keeping the targets in view at all times tosimplify the test). For this example the number of frames used in therolling bundle adjustment is 25, i.e. 1 second of data.

In order for the rolling bundle adjustment algorithm of the presenttechnology to work, the system should be initialized. For example, theinitial position coordinates of the image capturing device 1540G can beestimated by using the full bundle adjustment algorithm for N precedingframes. In another example, the additional navigation device 107 (FIG.15H) can be used to estimate the initial position coordinates of theimage capturing device 1540G.

In an embodiment of the present technology, the key-points areidentified by using 3 non-collinear targets with known absolute orrelative positions. This can be done for the example by automaticallyidentifying the target centers using an existing algorithm withinTrimble. The choice of these points can be an important decision. If theinitial set of points is able to sufficiently define a datum, theestimated camera positions and orientations can be in this datum andwill be appropriately scaled.

In an embodiment of the present technology, before any estimation can bedone, the key-points are identified by using a key-point detectionalgorithm such as SIFT, Surf, BRISK, etc. Many of these algorithms arealready implemented within Open CV.

When natural features are used, an arbitrary coordinate system (notshown) can be defined. If a distance measurement is visible in theimages it can be used to correctly scale the solution, otherwise theestimates will also be arbitrarily scaled (i.e. the estimated positionswill require a similarity transformation to obtain world coordinates).Alternatively, if the location of the image capturing device 1540G canbe determined via some other positioning system (say GNSS), theselocation estimates of the image capturing device 1540G can be used toscale the solution as well as define the required datum.

In an embodiment of the present technology, referring still to FIG. 15H,once the key-point 1530H has been found in the first sub-image 1524H,the corresponding key-points should be found in the following frames(not shown).This can be done by using key-point descriptors or trackingalgorithms such as the Lucas-Kanade tracking algorithm.

The Lucas-Kanade method is a widely used differential method for opticalflow estimation developed by Bruce D. Lucas and Takeo Kanade. It assumesthat the flow is essentially constant in the proximity of the pixelunder consideration, and solves the basic optical flow equations for allthe pixels in that vicinity, by the least squares criterion. Bycombining information from several nearby pixels, the Lucas-Kanademethod can often resolve the inherent ambiguity of the optical flowequation. It is also less sensitive to image noise than point-wisemethods. On the other hand, since it is a purely local method, it cannotprovide flow information in the interior of uniform regions of theimage.

The Kanade-Lucas-Tomasi (KLT) feature tracker is an approach to featureextraction. It is proposed mainly for the purpose of dealing with theproblem that traditional image registration techniques are generallycostly. KLT makes use of spatial intensity information to direct thesearch for the position that yields the best match. It is faster thantraditional techniques for examining far fewer potential matches betweenthe images.

In an embodiment of the present technology, the sequential rollingbundle adjustment algorithm 1521H (FIG. 15H) needs at least 5 key-pointsfor each frame.

In an embodiment of the present technology, as shown in FIG. 31, toensure good geometry while also keeping the number of tracked featureslow is to segment the image 3180 into sections (3182, 3184, 3186, 3188,3190, 3192, 3194, 3196 and 3198) and attempt to track a minimum twokey-points (3100 and 3102) in each segment in the subsequent frames.

In an embodiment of the present technology, one of the requirements forthe imagery is that the corresponding images (in consequent frames) havea significant overlap (say >50%) with one another. The frame raterequired to maintain such overlap is dependent on the camera dynamics.Higher dynamics will require a higher frame rate.

In an embodiment of the present technology, an alternative approach tousing a constant frame rate is to collect images whenever the cameramoves a given distance or changes orientation by a maximum rotation.This approach requires a secondary source of position, velocity, and/ororientation to control the camera shutter.

In an embodiment of the present technology, referring still to FIG. 15H,the collected image data is next fed into a least squares bundleadjustment algorithm 1521H which estimates the position and orientationof the image capturing device 1540G for each frame (6′-vector 1540 hincluding the position coordinates (x, y, z) as well as the orientationangels θ, Φ, and ψ) as well as the 3-D coordinates of the trackedkey-points: position coordinates 1542 h data (x_(i1), y_(i1), z_(i1))for the key-point i₁, the position coordinates 1544 h data (x_(i2),y_(i2), z_(i2)) for the key-point i₂, and the position coordinates 1546h data (x_(iK), y_(iK), z_(iK)) for the key-point i_(K).

The fundamental equations that are solved in the estimation are known asthe collinearity equations. The collinearity equations are a set of twoequations, used in photogrammetry and remote sensing to relatecoordinates in a sensor plane (in two dimensions) to object coordinates(in three dimensions). The equations originate from the centralprojection of a point of the object through the optical center of thecamera to the image on the sensor plane, also known as an image plane1550G.

FIGS. 29, 15I, and 30 illustrate the geometry that is utilized incollinearity equations.

More specifically, FIG. 29 depicts light beams 2904 and 2906 passingthrough the pinhole 2902 of a pinhole camera 2908 for purposes ofillustration. The pinhole camera 2908 is an example of an imagecapturing device 1540G.

As discussed herein, FIG. 15I depicts three points in a 3 dimensional(3D) field of view representing feature points on one or more objects,and their locations in the image plane of the imaging device, accordingto one embodiment. For example, FIG. 15I depicts 2-D projection 1534I of3-D point 1528I (2-D projection 1530I of 3-D point 1524I, and 2-Dprojection 1532I of 3-D point 1526I) on a plane 1550G by using a pinholecamera with the center 1544G.

FIG. 30 illustrates a graph 3050 with an x axis 3052 and a z axis 3054for plotting x and z coordinates of a 2-D projection of 3-D pointthrough the center of a pinhole camera, according to one embodiment. Forexample, FIG. 30 depicts x (3068) and z (3062) coordinates of 2-Dprojection C 3056 of 3-D point through a projection center 2902 of thepinhole camera 2908 of FIG. 29, as well as x (3064) and z (3060)coordinates of 2-D projection P 3058 of 3-D point through the projectioncenter 2902 of the pinhole camera 2908 of FIG. 29.

Derivation and details of the collinearity equations can be found in anytextbook on photogrammetry. One possible derivation (please, see for thereference “Elements of Photogrammetry” by Paul R. Wolf, published byMcGraw-Hill, 2000) results in the following:

$\begin{matrix}{\mspace{79mu} {x_{a} = {{- C}\frac{{m_{11}\left( {X_{a} - X_{l}} \right)} + {m_{12}\left( {Y_{a} - Y_{l}} \right)} + {m_{13}\left( {Z_{a} - Z_{l}} \right)}}{{m_{31}\left( {X_{a} - X_{l}} \right)} + {m_{32}\left( {Y_{a} - Y_{l}} \right)} + {m_{33}\left( {Z_{a} - Z_{l}} \right)}}}}} & \left( {{Eq}.\mspace{11mu} 1} \right) \\{\mspace{79mu} {y_{a} = {{- C}\frac{{m_{21}\left( {X_{a} - X_{l}} \right)} + {m_{22}\left( {Y_{a} - Y_{l}} \right)} + {m_{23}\left( {Z_{a} - Z_{l}} \right)}}{{m_{31}\left( {X_{a} - X_{l}} \right)} + {m_{32}\left( {Y_{a} - Y_{l}} \right)} + {m_{33}\left( {Z_{a} - Z_{l}} \right)}}}}} & \left( {{Eq}.\mspace{11mu} 2} \right) \\{\mspace{76mu} {m = {\begin{matrix}m_{11} & m_{12} & m_{13} \\m_{21} & m_{22} & m_{23} \\m_{31} & m_{32} & m_{33}\end{matrix}}}} & \left( {{Eq}.\mspace{11mu} 3} \right) \\{m = \begin{pmatrix}{\cos \; {\phi cos}\; \kappa} & {{\sin \; \omega \; \sin \; {\phi cos}\; \kappa} + {\cos \; \omega \; \sin \; \kappa}} & \begin{matrix}{{{- \cos}\; \omega \; \sin \; {\phi cos}\; \kappa} +} \\{\sin \; \omega \; \sin \; \kappa}\end{matrix} \\{{- \cos}\; \phi \; \sin \; \kappa} & {{{- \sin}\; \omega \; \sin \; \phi \; \sin \; \kappa} + \; {\cos \; \omega \; \cos \; \kappa}} & \begin{matrix}{{\cos \; \omega \; \sin \; \phi \; \sin \; \kappa} +} \\{\sin \; \omega \; \cos \; \kappa}\end{matrix} \\{\sin \; \phi} & {{- \sin}\; \omega \; \cos \; \phi} & {\cos \; \omega \; \cos \; \phi}\end{pmatrix}} & \left( {{Eq}.\mspace{11mu} 4} \right)\end{matrix}$

where

x_(a) is the measured x image coordinate of point a.

y_(a) is the measured y image coordinate of point a.

X_(a),Y_(a),Z_(a) are the world coordinates of point a.

X_(l), Y_(l), Z_(l) are the world coordinates of camera l.

ω, φ, κ are the Euler angle rotations of camera l.

c is the principal distance (approximately the focal length of thecamera).

m is the rotation matrix from the camera coordinate system to the worldcoordinate system.

In an embodiment of the present technology, FIG. 33 illustrates thegeometry 3320 involved in formulation of collinearity equations (Eq. 1and Eq. 2) with the matrix m given by (Eq. 3 and Eq. 4) that areutilized for estimation of the position and orientation of an imagecapturing device 1540G for each frame and for estimating 3-D coordinatesof the tracked key-points.

Referring still to FIG. 33, 3-D coordinates (X_(A), Y_(A), Z_(A)) of 3-Dpoint A in World Coordinate System (WCS) 3334 (with X axis 3326, Y axis3324, Z axis 3322) are indicated by point 3332, whereas 3-D coordinates(X_(L), Y_(L), Z_(L)) of 3-D point of the image capturing device'scenter L in World Coordinate System (WCS) 3334 are indicated by point3336.

Referring still to FIG. 33, 2-D coordinates (x_(a), y_(a)) of the pointa in 2-D camera Local Coordinate System (LCS) (camera frame plane) 3330are shown by point 3328. FIG. 33 also depicts c 3338, which is theprincipal distance that is approximately the focal length of the imagecapturing device 1540G.

Example III

Referring still to FIG. 28, suppose that the 12 targets (2862, 2864,2866, 2868, 2870, 2872, 2874, 2876, 2878, 2880, 2882, and 2884) aretracked and their coordinates are known. Each sub-image results in 2measurements (x and y) per target per frame resulting in 2*12*25=1200measurements for 25 frames. The unknowns in this example would be theposition and orientation of the image capturing device 1540G (FIG. 15H)(including camera Nikon D 800 camera using a 35 mm lens) per frame, i.e.6*25=150 unknowns. Clearly the minimum number of image measurementsshould be 150/25/2=3. In the case where an additional 3 natural featuresare tracked, there would be additional 3*2*25=150 measurements as wellas additional 3*3=9 unknowns (XYZ for each of the three points).Additional measurements to known or unknown points can add significantgeometric strength to the estimation resulting in estimates with lessnoise.

In an embodiment of the present technology, the collinearity equations(Eq. 1 and Eq. 2) with the matrix m given by (Eq. 3 and Eq. 4) arere-formulated in terms of least squares adjustment for the purposes ofoptimal estimation.

More specifically, in an embodiment of the present technology, the basicleast squares equations for the above problem are summarized as follows:

{circumflex over (l)}=f({circumflex over (x)})  (Eq. 5)

{circumflex over (r)}=A{circumflex over (δ)}+w  (Eq. 6))

w=f(x ^(o))−l  (Eq. 7)

{circumflex over (δ)}=−N ⁻¹ u=−(A ^(T) C _(l) ⁻¹ A)⁻¹ A ^(T) C _(l) ⁻¹w  (Eq. 8)

C _({circumflex over (x)}) =N ⁻¹  (Eq. 9)

Where

{circumflex over (l)} is a vector of adjusted observations

f ({circumflex over (x)}) is the collinearity equations evaluated at{circumflex over (x)}

x^(o) is the current estimate of the state x.

-   {circumflex over (r)} is a vector of residuals

A is a Jacobean matrix (partial derivatives of the collinearityequations w.r.t. the unknowns)

{circumflex over (δ)} is a vector of corrections to the unknownparameters

w is a vector of misclosures

C_(l) is the covariance matrix for the measurements

C_({circumflex over (x)}) is the covariance matrix for the estimatedparameters.

One of the most time consuming operations in the estimation is theinversion of the matrix (N) with the number of rows and columns equal tothe number of unknown states. Given the iterative nature of leastsquares, this matrix may require inversion once per iteration.

In an embodiment of the present technology, as was disclosed above, oncethe initialization has been completed, the positions and orientations ofthe image capturing device 1540G for the first N frames have beenestimated along with the positions of the selected key-points. The nextstep is to continue estimating the image capturing device 1540G's statesas new subsequent frames (N+1, N+2, N+3, N+4, etc.) become available.

In an embodiment of the present technology, FIG. 32 shows the rollingadjustment sequential update algorithm 3250 in estimation of imagecapturing device 1540G's positions and orientations from the initial Nframes to the subsequent (N+1) frames.

FIG. 32 depicts frames 3252-3270 along a frame number axis 3272 with theframe numbers 1, 2, 3, 4, N, N+1, N+2, N+3, N+4 for each of therespective frames 3252-3270. FIG. 32 also depicts solutions 3274, 3276,3280, and 3278 that correspond respectively with frame N, frame N+1,frame N+2, and frame N+3.

The bundle adjustment algorithm solution 3250 based on the initial Nframes (from 3252 and up to 3262) is schematically noted as the initialsolution 3274, the bundle adjustment algorithm solution 3250 based on(N+1) frames (from 3252 and up to 3264) is schematically noted as thesubsequent solution 3276, the bundle adjustment algorithm solution 3250based on (N+2) frames (from 3256 through 3264) is schematically noted assubsequent solution 3278, and the bundle adjustment algorithm solution3250 based on (N+3) frames (from 3258 through 3278) is schematicallynoted as subsequent solution 3280.

When a new frame becomes available, the oldest frame is removed from thestate estimation. The rows and columns associated with the frame to beremoved are replaced with initial estimates for the newest frame. Thisinitial estimate of the camera position and orientation at the new framemay be computed from the estimated key-points or if the frame rate ishigh relative to the camera dynamics the estimate can simply be set tothe same values as the previous frame.

In an embodiment of the present technology, the sequential rollingupdate is accomplished in a sequential manner using the followingequations:

{circumflex over (δ)}^((+)={circumflex over (δ)}) ⁽⁻⁾ −K[w ₂ +A₂{circumflex over (δ)}⁽⁻⁾]  (Eq. 10)

C _({circumflex over (x)}) ⁽⁺⁾ =N ₁ ⁻¹ −KA ₂ N ₁ ⁻¹  (Eq. 11)

K=N ₁ ⁻¹ A ₂ ^(T) [C _(l) +A ₂ N ₁ ⁻¹ A ₂ ^(T)]⁻¹  (Eq. 12)

where (+), (−) indicate parameters before and after the measurementupdate.

The major advantage of this technique is that the only new inversionrequired for the sequential update is the matrix contained within thegain term K. The matrix to be inverted is a square matrix with thedimensions equal to the number of new measurements associated with thenew image.

Example IV

For the Examples II and II outlined above in which 12 key-points aretracked, the required inversion would be on a 24×24 matrix. This iscompared to re-computing the bundle adjustment with all N frames whichwould require an inversion of a matrix with dimensions of25*6×25*6=150×150.

One of the practical justifications of the present algorithm ofsequential rolling bundle adjustment that utilizes images to trackposition and orientation changes is that some key-points will no longerbe visible as the image capturing device 1540G (also referred to as“camera”) moves. This requires that the no longer visible key-points beremoved from the estimation as they no longer provide usefulinformation. This removal is accomplished by simply removing theassociated rows and columns in the state and covariance matrices. Also,as the image capturing device 1540G moves it will become necessary toidentify and track new key-points and add them into the estimation. Oncea new key-point is identified, it should be tracked over multiple imagesin order to compute initial coordinates which can then be used to insertthe associated position into the state and covariance matrices.

Experimental data indicates that as the number of frames increases, thedifferences between the optimal solution and the sequential solutionbegin to approach one another, and however the cost is a slight increasein computational requirements. In an example, when N=25 the maximumdifference is about 21 mm. Also, the time required to update a frame wasapproximately 25 msec on a laptop with an Intel i7 processor and nooptimization of the software. Thus this method enables operation in realtime.

In an embodiment, the computer-readable and computer-executableinstructions may reside on computer useable/readable media.

Modern image capturing devices 1540G also have accelerometers built in,and so can also track their movements. With 3-axis accelerometers, againit is possible to track the cellular device's pose in real time, but theerror build-up is quadratic. This error can be eliminated by periodicresetting the accelerometer, usually when the change in position or poseis close to zero. However, the reset results in a restart of trackedmotion, from the new zero point. Since the error build up in image-basedtracking systems is linear, image tracking can be used for longer timeperiods. Resetting an image tracking system may be done via theaccelerometer as well.

The two pose tracking systems, image-based and accelerometer-based, maybe combined via a Kalman filter with appropriate weighting functions toindicate a distance traveled during a given time interval. Knowing thisdistance as a kind of “truth” distance allows for additional filteringon GNSS observables and processed position fixes, to improve accuracy.

Therefore, one or more operations of various embodiments may becontrolled or implemented using computer-executable instructions, suchas program modules, being executed by a computer. Generally, programmodules include routines, programs, objects, components, datastructures, etc., that perform particular tasks or implement particularabstract data types.

Although specific steps of exemplary methods of implementation aredisclosed herein, these steps are examples of steps that may beperformed in accordance with various exemplary embodiments. That is,embodiments disclosed herein are well suited to performing various othersteps or variations of the steps recited. Moreover, the steps disclosedherein may be performed in an order different than presented, and notall of the steps are necessarily performed in a particular embodiment.

Multipath Errors

Various embodiments are well suited for correcting or compensating forerrors caused by multipath in pseudorange estimates. For example,multipath error can occur as signals bounce on various objects, such asbuildings or other objects, reflecting signals along many paths.Extracted pseudorange information is an example of pseudorangeestimates.

Multipath refers to the simultaneous processing in the GNSS receiver ofboth the desired GNSS signal and reflected versions of the desired GNSSsignal that arrive a very short time after the desired signal. The twosignals pass through the GNSS receiver and are processed by the downconverter and the timing measurement systems that develop thepseudoranges. Instantaneous combining of the two signals, desired andslightly-later multipath, result in erroneous pseudoranges, which may bequite different in instantaneous magnitude from the true pseudorangethat should have been determined.

Since it is very hard to shield a GNSS receiver/antenna system from suchreflections, alternate means for coping with the interference have beendeveloped. The Hatch method is particularly useful when carrier phasedata is available, as carrier phase is not affected by multipath, andtherefore can serve as a kind of yardstick to compare pseudorange datato (also known as “disciplining” the pseudoranges).

Multipath error can be reduced by smoothing pseudoranges using, forexample, real carrier phase information or reconstructed carrier phaseinformation. For example, assuming that the raw pseudorange smoothingbased on CPI logic 1530C is implemented with a filter 1534E, the filter1534E can remove “outlier” pseudoranges that do not conform to theextent of a change in pseudorange expected under the instant conditions,as measured by the covariance matrix. For example, if a sequence ofpseudoranges contains the following data [pseudorange time estimates ofthe time for a timing signal to travel from a satellite to a receiver insecond]: 0.0675, 0.0676, 0.0677 0.0680, 0.0679 . . . the filter 1534Emay delete the 0.0680 entry as an “outlier.”

Locally Measured Movement LLM

Locally measured movement information, abbreviated here as “LLM,”according to one embodiment, is information that includes measurementsof movement where the movement and the measurements of the movementoccur locally with respect to a cellular device. For example, anaccelerometer that is attached or part of a cellular device can be usedto measure the distance that the cellular device has moved. In anotherexample, a series of images obtained with an image capturing device1540G that is attached or part of the cellular device can be used tomeasure the distance the cellular device has moved.

Referring to FIG. 15G, movement can be measured in a plane that isparallel to the ground where the plane is defined by an x axis and a yaxis, such as ground plane 1560G. Movement can also be measured along az axis (also known as “height”) that is perpendicular to the ground thedetermination of the x and y coordinates in position as well as time tofix can be improved. Most consistent results will occur when thecellular device with its image capturing device 1540G is oriented in areasonably fixed direction. Wearing a cellular device on a belt hook orattached to a hat or some other type of platform, for example, can beused to maintain orientation. A front-facing or a rear-facing imagecapturing device 1540G can be used to view the surrounding area,according to one embodiment. If the image capturing device 1540G is heldby hand, then whatever orientation is first used needs to beapproximately maintained. However, modern cellular device accelerometersindicate orientation in all planes and software can accommodate anychange is physical orientation of the cell device.

By prior arrangement, a mounted orientation may be referenced in thesoftware that is used to define the imaging output, so that the imagefrom the image capturing device 1540G can directly measure changes in ahorizontal plane 1560G, parallel to the earth's surface, andperpendicular to the image plane 1550G of the image capturing device1540G. Thus the image will be approximately perpendicular to the planeof the earth's surface. In this case, X and Z are directly viewable inthe captured image. Y is in the plane 1560G that is approximatelyperpendicular to the captured image, and approximately parallel to theearth. The image capturing device 1540G can measure left-right motioneasily which is like a delta X whereas height Z is up-down. Depth viewof the captured image provides Y information. However, all that isrequired for LMM operation is that either the accelerometers areoperative and useful, or the image capturing device can see and tracksome features in its environment.

Various embodiments are well suited to other types of locally measuredmovement that can be used for improving position determination, asdiscussed herein.

Patterns of Using Movement Information

Locally measured movement (LMM) information from one or more types ofsensors can be used to provide improved position determination. Examplesof a movement sensor are an image capturing device 1540G and anaccelerometer 1502A.

Various patterns can be created by using one or more types of locallymeasured movement information. One pattern occurs when LMM is used froma single sensor. Another pattern occurs when LMM from two sensors areused simultaneously. Yet another pattern can occur when LMM from twosensors are mutually exclusively alternated with respect to one another.Yet still another pattern can occur when LMM from two sensors over lapat times and alternate at other times. These are just a few examples ofpatterns of using LMM that can be used according to various embodiments.These patterns can be modified to incorporate three or more sensors.

FIG. 18A depicts a diagram of a pattern where locally measured movementinformation 1801 from an accelerometer is used to improve positiondetermination, according to one embodiment. Axis 1801A, 1802A, 1803A arefor time, axis 1801B is for distance 1812A measured by theaccelerometer, axis 1802B is for position fix distance 1814A asdetermined by the movement sensor position fix smoothing logic 1510Cusing pseudorange information, axis 1803B is for the plot 1816 a of realdistance plot. Note that the circular elements in plot 1816B, the Xelements in plot 1814B, and the cross-shaped elements in plot 1818 b aredata points corresponding to the user position where the cellular deviceis being held by the user. The LMM devices provide incremental distancesfrom one measurement location to the next, as shown in FIG. 18B at1820B, 1821B, and 1822B. The plot 1812A of the distance measured by theaccelerometer is an example of locally measured movement information.The locally measured accelerometer distance plot 1812A is a plot 1816 aof locally measured movement of the real distance of a cellular deviceas it is moving. The locally measured accelerometer distance, indicatedin plot 1812A, is used to correct the position fix distance as indicatedby plot 1814A. Therefore, the plot 1814A of the position fix distanceapproximates the real distance plot 1816A. As depicted, at time 1810A,the accelerometer reaches a limiting factor.

Delta-GNSS 1840 a is the difference between the last two position fixdistances for the plot 1814A. Delta-LMM 1860A is the difference betweenthe last two accelerometer distances for plot 1812 a. Respective deltasmay be calculated for any two successive position fixes or distancesmeasured by a sensor, such as an image capturing device oraccelerometer.

FIG. 18B depicts a diagram of a pattern where locally measured movementinformation from an image capturing device 1540G is used to improveposition determination, according to one embodiment. Axis 1801A, 1802A,1803A are for time, axis 1804B is for the plot 1818B of the distancesmeasured by the image capturing device, axis 1802B is for the plot 1814Bof position fix distances as determined by the movement sensor positionfix smoothing logic 1510C using pseudorange information, axis 1803B isfor the plot 1816B of real distances. Plot 1818B is a plot of distancesmeasured by the image capturing device, which is an example of locallymeasured movement information. The locally measured image capturingdevice distance plot 1818B is locally measured movement of the realdistance, depicted in plot 1816B, of a cellular device as it is moving.The locally measured image capturing device distance, as indicated byplot 1818B, is used to correct the position fix distances as indicatedby plot 1814B. Therefore, the plot 1814D of the position fix distancesapproximates the real distances plot 1816B.

Delta-GNSS 1840B is the difference between the last two position fixdistances for the plot 1814B. Delta-LMM 1850 a is the difference betweenthe last two distances measured by the image capturing device for plot1818B. Respective deltas may be calculated for any two successiveposition fixes or distances measured by a sensor, such as an imagecapturing device or accelerometer.

FIG. 18C depicts a diagram of a pattern where locally measured movementinformation, as indicated by plots 1818C and 1812C, from anaccelerometer and an image capturing device are continuously integratedtogether to improve position determination during a period of time andthe image capturing device alone is used after the accelerometer reachesa limiting factor at time 1810C, according to one embodiment. Axis1801A, 1802A, 1803A and 1804A are for time, axis 1801B is for distancemeasured by the accelerometer plot 1812C, axis 1802B is for the positionfix distances plot 1814C, axis 1803B is for real distances plot 1816C,and axis 1804B is for the plot 1818C of distances measured by an imagecapturing device. The position fix distance plot 1814C includes theposition fixes 1821C-1827C. Position fix 1826C is one of the positionfixes in the position fix distance plot 1814C where 1826C is an“outlier.” Position fixes 1821C-1825C precede position fix 1826C andposition fix 1827C succeeds position fix 1826C. Distance, as indicatedin plots 1812C and 1818C, measured respectively by the accelerometer'sdistance and the image capturing device's distance are examples oflocally measured movement information. The locally measured distancesplots 1812C and 1818C are locally measured movement of the realdistance, as indicated by plot 1816A, of a cellular device as it ismoving. The locally measured accelerometer's distance plot 1812C and theimage capturing device's distance plot 1818C are used to correct theposition fix distances, as indicated by plot 1814C. Therefore, the plot1814C of the position fix distance approximates the real distances plot1816C, except for the position fix 1826C, which is an “outlier.” Theposition fix 1828C is a new position fix that was determined based on ablend of locally measured movement (LMM) information from both anaccelerometer and an image capturing device (also referred to as“blended locally measured movement information”). The new position fix1828C can replace the “outlier” position fix 1826C, as discussed herein.As depicted, at time 1810C, the accelerometer reaches a limiting factorand is not used after time 1810C.

Delta-GNSS 1840 c is the difference between the second and thirdposition fixes for the plot 1814C. Delta-LMM 1850 c is the differencebetween the two image capturing distances, which correspond to thesecond and third position fix, for plot 1818C. Delta-LMM 1860C is thedistance between two accelerometer distances, which correspond to thesecond and third position fix, for plot 1812C. Respective deltas may becalculated for any two successive position fixes or distances measuredby a sensor, such as an image capturing device or accelerometer.

FIG. 18D depicts a diagram of a pattern where the position determinationis improved by alternating the use of non-overlapping locally measuredmovement information from an accelerometer and an image capturing deviceas indicated by respective plots 1812D and 1818D, according to oneembodiment. For example, from t0 to t1, only the accelerometer's locallymeasured movement information, as indicated by plot 1812D, is used, fromtime t1 to t2 only the image capturing device's locally measuredmovement information, as indicated by plot 1818 d, is used. The locallymeasured accelerometer distances plot 1812D and the image capturingdevice's distances plot 1818D are used to correct the position fixdistances, as indicated by plot 1814D. Therefore, the plot 1814D of theposition fix distances approximates the real distances plot 1816D. Attime 1810D, the accelerometer reaches a limiting factor and is not usedafter time 1810D.

Estimating a New Position when the GNSS Position Fix is an Outlier

FIG. 18E depicts various graphs 1800E-3, 1800E-2, 1800E-1 for estimatinga new position fix when a GNSS position fix is an outlier, according tovarious embodiments.

Graph 1800E-1 depicts a plan view, looking down at the ground fromabove, of the path a user is walking as they are holding their cellulardevice. There is an X-Y direction reference 1810E where x is the xdirection that the user can walk and y is the y direction that the usercan walk. Graphs 1800E-1's x axis represents times t0 to ti+1. Sincegraph 1800E-1 is a plan view, the x axis also represents the directionthat a person can walk in the x direction.

The graph 1800E-1 depicts the GNSS position fixes P1-P9 that the usertraveled while carrying their cellular device and distances D1-D9between each of the respective pairs of GNSS position fixes P1-P9. Thedistances D1-D9 are scalar distances traveled by the cellular device asmeasured by locally measured movement information, according to variousembodiments. The position fixes P1-P9 are absolute coordinates asmeasured by a GNSS receiver. The position fixes P1-P9 are latitudelongitude position fixes instead of distances traveled. Each of theposition fixes occur at the respective times ti−7 to ti+1. P8 at time tiis an outlier 1803E. The real position fix for the user at time ti isdepicted as real position fix 1804E.

Graph 1800E-2 depicts a comparison between distances calculated based onGNSS position fixes (also known as “GNSS position fix distances”) anddistances calculated based on locally measured movement information(also known as “LMM distances”), according to various embodiments.

The y axis represents scalar distances for the GNSS position fixdistances and the LMM distances. The scalar distance is an absolutevalue. For example, an equation to compute the scalar distance betweenP(ti) and P(ti−1) is

∥P(ti)−P(ti−1)∥.

ΔP₁₀ to ΔP₈₇ represent distances calculated based on the GNSS positionfixes P1-P8. D1-D8 represent distances calculated based on locallymeasured movement (LMM) information, where ΔP₁₀ is the distance betweenP0 and P1, ΔP₂₁ is the distance between P1 and P2 and so on. A distancebetween GNSS position fixes can be determined using an equation thatsubtracts a subsequent position fix P from a previous position fix P.For example, ΔP₂₁ can be calculated using the equation ΔP₂₁=P2−P1. Thegraph 1800E-2 provides a comparison by depicting respective pairstogether, such as D1 with ΔP₁₀, D2 with ΔP₂₁, and so on through D8 withΔP₈₇ 1820E represents the maximum error allowed, also referred to hereinas a metric threshold. As depicted in graph 1800E-2, the GNSS positionfix distance ΔP₈₇ exceeds the LMM distance D8 by ΔP, using the equationΔP>D8+maximum error 1820E. Therefore, the GNSS position fix P8 thatcorresponds with ΔP₈₇ is determined to be an “outlier,” according to oneembodiment.

Image measured distances and accelerometer distances depicted in FIGS.18A-18D are examples of LMM distances D1-D8. Position fix distancesdepicted in FIGS. 18A-18D are examples of GNSS position fix distancesΔP₁₀ to ΔP₈₇.

Graph 1800E-2 depicts a GNSS position fix 1803E that is an “outlier” attime ti. The GNSS position fix 1803E was calculated using variousembodiments, as discussed herein. To make it easier to compare the GNSSposition fix 1803E with the real position, at position fix 1804E, graph1800E-1 also depicts the GNSS position fix 1803E, which is the“outlier.”

Graph 1800E-3 depicts a plan view of position fixes P(t0) to P(ti−1)taken respectively at times t0−t1, according to one embodiment, whereP(t0) to P(ti−1) depicted in graph 1800E-3 respectively are P0 to P8depicted in graph 1800E-1. The x axis represents the direction thecellular device carried by the user travels in the x direction and the yaxis represents the direction the cellular device travels in the ydirection. In this illustration, for the sake of simplicity, it isassumed that the user is walking on near level ground. Therefore, thegraph 1800E-3 does not depict a z-axis since the z slope would be closeto zero.

P(ti−2) and P(ti−1), which are position fixes taken respectively attimes ti−2 and ti−1. At time ti, graph 1800E-3 depicts an LMM estimate1802E.

LMMave is equal to the scalar distance which in turn is equal to 1/NΣLMM(t0,ti) where n=N a fixed number that represents the total number ofdata points. The letter M shall be used to represent slopes for LMMdistances D1-D9. Therefore, the path in space from P(ti−2) to P(ti−1) isequal to MxX+MyY+MzZ+P(ti−2).

A cellular device 1500A, 1500J, 1600, 1700 may be used to estimate theposition in 3D space of a position fix given by the cellular device1500A, 1500J, 1600, 1700 which is declared to be an “outlier,” asdiscussed herein. In an embodiment, GNSS data created by a cellulardevice 1500A, 1500J, 1600, 1700 is stored, for example, in memory 210 asdiscussed herein. Examples of GNSS data include raw pseudoranges,corrected unsmoothed pseudoranges, corrected smoothed, uncorrectedunsmoothed pseudoranges, uncorrected smoothed pseudoranges, smoothedpseudoranges, and various types of GNSS position fixes calculated, asdiscussed herein. LMM data generated by a sensor, such as 1502A, 1540G,1540J, is stored, for example, in memory 210, as discussed herein. Adistance traveled can be determined based on LMM data, according tovarious embodiments.

A GNSS average distance traveled can be determined based on GNSS datafor a variable number of time intervals, such as t0−ti. For the sameintervals t0−ti, an LMM average distance traveled can be estimated usinglocally measured movement information. In an embodiment, when there is adiscrepancy between the GNSS average distance traveled and the LMMaverage distance traveled, the GNSS position fix may be determined to bean outlier, and may be discarded.

In the event that an estimate 1802E of the discarded position 1803E iswanted, the real position 1804E's location in 3D (x, y and zcoordinates) may be estimated by the following method. Let Ti representthe time that corresponds with the outlier position fix 1803E. In anembodiment, previous position fixes, such as P(ti−2), P(ti−1) depictedin graph 1800E-3, prior to the time of the outlier 1803E may be used todetermine a vector direction that can give an indication of the expecteddirection of travel. This vector is based on calculating themathematical slopes of the components of a line in space. Referring tograph 1800E-3, an example of a slope is the slope of the line betweenP(ti−2) and P(ti−1). Such slopes Mx, My, and Mz for the respective x, yand z coordinates, may be determined by well-known methods involving thedata points for the previous 2 known positions, Ti−1 and Ti−2, as shownin FIG. 18E. The average travel distance LMM, represented by LMMave, maybe determined by averaging the previous position fixes for 2 or moreprevious positions, such as P(ti−2) and P(t−1). The estimated positionof the replacement for the outlier 1803E may be determined by vectoraddition of the LMM average distance traveled scalar quantity to thevector position of the last known position fix at time Ti−1. Theequation for this method is:

Pest[Ti]=P[Ti−1]+LMMave×[Vector components Mx, My, Mz], where x and yare represented coordinates in 1810E and z represents height.

The LMM estimate 1802E depicted in graph 1800E-3 is an example ofPest[Ti]. The LMM estimate 1802E can be used to replace the GNSSposition fix 1803E, according to various embodiments.

For example, the direction of the line between P(ti−2) and P(ti−1) iscontinued from P(ti−1) to P_(EST)(ti) so that P(ti−2), P(ti−1) andP_(EST)(ti) appear to be in a straight line. Further, P_(EST)(ti) may becalculated by adding the distance D8 to the position fix P(ti−1), whichis the last position fix that was determined to be sufficientlyaccurate, according to one embodiment. For example, Position fix P(ti−1)can be determined to be sufficiently accurate because D7 and ΔP₂₁ do notdiffer by the metric threshold 1820E.

This method, as depicted in the context of FIG. 18E, may be performed innear-real time if the LMM distance is needed for other functions. Otherembodiments are also useful. In an embodiment, a more sophisticatedestimation procedure may be applied that takes more previous andsuccessive data points into account, such as a curve-fitting method.

Referring to FIGS. 18A-18E, the interval for collecting position fixesand distances for an image capturing device or accelerometer can vary,for example, from 1/10^(th) of a second to a second, according to oneembodiment.

According to one embodiment, the metric threshold can range from 10centimeters (cms) to 1 meter (m) or any other range of distanceappropriate to the conditions of use.

For the sake of simplicity, FIGS. 18A-18E were depicted with movementinformation from one sensor or two sensors. If the movement informationis from two or more sensors, the movement information can be blendedbased on weighting factors, as discussed herein. However, embodimentsare well suited to a different number of sensors.

Weighting Factors

Weighting factors (also referred to as “weights”) can be used as a partof implementing the patterns of using movement information as depictedin FIGS. 18A-18E. A weighting factor determines how much of a sensor'soutput is used, for example, in a particular process. Weighting factorsthus capture the relative importance of a sensor in operating theparticular process. Weighting factors range from 0% to 100%, and all theweighting factors for all of the sensors of a cellular device that arebeing used at a point in time for a particular process generally add upto 100%. For example, if only one sensor is used, then a weight of 100%may be used for the LMM information from that sensor. In anotherexample, if a cellular device is using sensors a and b for improvingposition fix determination based on LLM information, then movementinformation for sensor a may have a weight of 10% while the weight ofthe other sensor b may have a weight of 90% where 10% and 90% totals100%. In yet another example, when the cellular device includes sensorsa and b, a weight of 55% may be used for the movement information fromsensor a and a weight of 45% may be used for the movement informationfrom sensor b where 55% and 45% total 100%.

According to one embodiment, the movement information from one of thesensors is not used, for example, by assigning it a weight of 0. Forexample, if the movement information for the accelerometer is assigned aweight of 0, then the accelerometer's movement information is not used.Similarly, if a weight of zero is assigned to the movement informationof an image capturing device, then the image capturing device's movementinformation is not used.

Further, a weight for a type of movement information may vary over time.For example, movement information from a single sensor a or b may have aweight of 10% from time t0 to time t1, then 15% from time t1 to time t2and so on. In another example, when movement information from two ormore sensors are used, a weight of 5% may be used for the movementinformation from sensor a and a weight of 7% may be used for themovement information from sensor b from time t0 to time t1 and a weightof 8% may be used for the movement information from sensor a and aweight of 4% may be used for the movement information from sensor b fromtime t1 to time t2.

The weighting factor for the LMM information from a sensor of aplurality of sensor, according to one embodiment, is determined based onthe quality the LMM information. For example, if the quality of the LMMinformation from sensor a is twice as good as the LMM information fromsensor b, then the weighting factor for the LMM information from sensora may be twice that of the weighting factor for the LMM information fromsensor b.

The quality of the LMM information for an accelerometer may bedetermined, for example, based on one or more of the quality of theaccelerometer, the amount of time that has elapsed since theaccelerometer was reset. The quality of the LMM information from animage capturing device may be determined, for example, based on thequality of the image capturing device, the number of features associatedwith the one or more images obtained with the image capturing device,the amount of distance that the image capturing device has been movedsince it was reset, the number of key features and so on.

The blending, based on weights, of the locally measured movementinformation from two or more sensors can be used as a part ofdetermining the accuracy of a position fix, discarding a position fixthat is an outlier, or calculating a new position fix to replace thediscarded position fix, or a combination thereof. The weighting factorscan be used to take into account that there are error buildups thatoccur with the Locally Measured Movement information. The weightingfactors can be time dependent according to rules. For example theweighting factor for the accelerometer may decrease over the time limitpreset for providing acceptable accuracy. The decrease may be linear orexponential. Similarly, the weighting factor for use of the image-basedposition shift estimator may also be decreased over time and overdistance traveled. The sum of the two position shift sources may beweighted appropriately and then used in a second summation process asfollows.

The utility of the LMM as a kind of “sanity check” on casting outposition jumps in the GNSS-determined position fix arises because LMMbased sources, such as an accelerometer and image capturing device,typically do not experience large position shifts themselves. So a firstkind of test may be to 1) calculate the relative position fix changesfor each type of sensor from a first time to a second time period; thenblend the two LMM data sources together to get an LMM position shift.Then calculate the position shift determined by two successiveGNSS-determined position fixes. By comparing these two successiveGNSS-determined position fixes, a judgment can be made about theexpected reliability of the GNSS-determined position fix.

For example, referring to FIGS. 18A-18C, let Delta-GNSS 1840A, 1840B,1840C be the difference between two successive position shifts based onGNSS. Let Delta-LMM 1860A, 1850B, 1850C, 860C be the estimated positionshift determined by the LMM sensors. If the difference between arespective Delta-GNSS and a Delta-LMM is greater than a predeterminedthreshold, then the GNSS position fix may be suspect, and may bediscarded. For example, if the Delta-GNSS 1840A exceeds Delta-LMM 1860Afor the accelerometer by a predetermined threshold, then the secondposition fix, which is used to calculate the Delta-GNSS 1840A, may bediscarded. In another example, a Delta-LMM may be the blend of theDelta-LMMs 1850C, 1860C for two sensors. A blend of Delta-LMMs shall bereferred to as a “bdl.” If the Delta GNSS-1840 c exceeds the blendedDelta-LMM bdl by a predetermined threshold, such as threshold 1820 (FIG.18E), then the second position fix, which is used to calculatedelta-GNSS 1840C, may be discarded. The discarded position fix may bereplaced with a GNSS position fix data point that is calculated based onthe Delta-LMM data 1860A, 1850B, 1850C, 1860C, blended Delta-LMM bdl,which is only a linear distance estimate. The calculated GNSS positionfix data point may be determined by extending a vector from the previousGNSS data point, based on the previous 2 or 3 GNSS position fixes andtheir X, Y, Z coordinates. For example, referring to FIG. 18A, a vectorbetween the first and second position fix in plot 1814A can be used incalculating a GNSS position fix data point based on the Delta-LMM data1860 a that will replace the third position fix in plot 1814A. In thisway, outliers may be discarded and replaced with new estimates of aposition in space at the time of the discard.

Additionally, the LMM data may be used to both smooth and blend the GNSSposition fix data, in another filter process. The use of a compositeweighting factor for LMM data may include a time and distance-traveleddependency. In an embodiment, this pair of weighting factors are appliedto the two Deltas described earlier: Delta-GNSS position shift at timeperiod ti to ti+1, and Delta-LMM composite position shift at the sametime period. The blending/disciplining of any GNSS position fix can bothbe time dependent, in the following manner. As the lifetime of usefulLMM data decreases, its weight may decrease, and the weight of thefactor being applied to the Delta-GNSS position shift can be increasedin opposite proportion, so the sum of the weighting factors is alwaysone. This decrease in relative importance of LMM data is essential tominimize adding errors to a position fix estimate.

Therefore, the locally measured cellular device movement information isa blend of two or more locally measured cellular device movementinformation obtained from two or more sensors that are in the knownphysical relationship with the cellular device and wherein the methodfurther comprises blending the two or more locally measured cellulardevice movement information based on weighting factors. According tovarious embodiments, as described herein, the method further compriseschanging the weighting factors over time based on respective quality ofthe two or more locally measured cellular device movement information.

Resetting the LMM data sources may be done automatically according tovarious kinds of rules, which can be chosen by a designer. For theaccelerometer, the accuracy becomes unacceptable after some time period,on the order of tens of seconds. A reset can be done by program controlwhen the accelerometer movement data drops below a threshold, such aswhen relative movement is less than 2 cm. Similar methods can be appliedto the image capturing device, based on time and distance traveled.

Limiting Factors

A cellular device 1500A, 1600, 1700, according to one embodiment,includes limiting factor logic 1540C, where the accelerometer limitingfactor logic 1542C pertains to limiting factor for the accelerometer1502A and the ICD limiting factor logic 1544C pertains to limitingfactors for an image capturing device 1540G.

Limiting factors can, for example, be used for determining whether touse movement information from a sensor, for example, due to the movementinformation being too inaccurate. For example, the accuracy of themovement information from an accelerometer decreases over time.Therefore, according to one embodiment, the movement information from anaccelerometer may be used from the time the accelerometer is set to athreshold of time. An example of a threshold of time for anaccelerometer is approximately 10 seconds. The threshold of time dependson the quality of the accelerometer where higher quality accelerometerswill have a higher threshold of time than poor quality accelerometers.Higher quality accelerometers usually cost more and weigh more, so arenot as appropriate as MEMS accelerometers, which are very small andlight and fit with the overall design of a cellular device.

The accuracy of the movement information from an image capturing devicedepends, according to one embodiment, on the number of features that arein an image obtained with the image capturing device. For example, themore features that are in the image the more accurate the movementinformation from that image will be, up to a point of diminishingreturns. According to one embodiment, movement information from an imageis used when the number of features of the image is ranges from 6 to 200points. According to one embodiment, the minimum number of points is 36points with 6 degrees of freedom for x, y, z, roll, pitch and yaw, as 6times 6 samples equals 36.

A technology known as match move, as discussed herein, can be used formeasuring the amount of movement of a cellular device based on imagestaken with an image capturing device.

According to one embodiment, a type of movement information is not usedif the limiting factor for the corresponding type of sensor is exceeded.Examples of sensors are hardware image capturing devices and hardwareaccelerometers. For example, in one embodiment, if there are fewer than200 features in an image, then the image is not used as movementinformation, according to one embodiment. The threshold number offeatures may be set higher or lower than 200 in other embodiments. Inanother example, if the movement of image capturing device has exceededa distance threshold that would interfere with correlating features inrespective images, then the image capturing device is reset to use a newreference image. For example, if the image capturing device has movedten or more feet since the reference image was set, a new image may beused as the reference image. In yet another example, if approximately 10seconds has passed since an accelerometer was reset, then the movementinformation from the accelerometer is not used.

According to one embodiment, the weighting factor for a type of movementinformation is set to zero when the limiting factor of that type ofmovement information is exceeded. For example, a weight of zero can beassigned for movement information of an image from a camera when thereare fewer than approximately 36 features in the image. Similarly, aweighting factor of zero can be assigned for movement information froman accelerometer when 10 seconds has passed since the accelerometer wasreset.

Kalman Filter

Many types of data estimation methods may be employed to smooth the datafrom any single source to remove outliers, or to combine the effects ofmultiple and different data sources, as may be found in the cellulardevice system described herein. Well-known methods include use of leastsquares, Bayes filtering, sequential least squares, particle filtering,other methods for robust estimation, the Hough transform, the RandomSample Consensus [RANSAC] method, and so forth, as is well-known in theestimation arts. The Kalman Filtering method is also well-suited tomulti-variant blending of dissimilar data sets. It is described hereinas one example of a suitable estimation method.

FIG. 19 depicts an example Kalman Filter processing 1900, according tosome embodiments. According to one embodiment, the Kalman Filteringprocess 1900 is performed by filtering logic 1524D, 1534E, 1512F. Itshould be appreciated that Kalman Filtering is well known. As such, FIG.19 and the associated discussion are utilized only to provide ahigh-level general description. Variations in the described procedureswill occur during specific implementations of Kalman Filtering. Theextended Kalman Filter and the unscented Kalman Filter represent some ofthe variations to the basic method. Generally speaking, Kalman Filteringis a basic two-step predictor/corrector modeling process that iscommonly used to model dynamic systems. A dynamic system will often bedescribed with a series of mathematical models. Models describingsatellites in a Global Navigation Satellite System (GNSS) are oneexample of a dynamic system. Because the position of any satelliteand/or the positions of all the satellites in a system constantly anddynamically change and the satellites output a signal that can bemeasured by a GNSS receiver, Kalman Filtering can be used in determiningposition fixes in a portion of a cellular device that is outside of theGNSS receiver. The models can also describe the position of a cellulardevice that includes GNSS receiver, for example, based on movementinformation.

Examples of inputs to the Kalman Filter processing 1900 are positionfixes 1501F and locally measured movement information 1502F. The KalmanFilter processing 1900 selects one or more position fixes for removal.The position fixes can then be smoothed by removing the selectedposition fix(es). Similarly, the Kalman Filter processing 1900 selectsone or more extracted pseudorange information from one (or more) sensorsfor removal. The extracted pseudorange information can then be smoothedby removing the selected information. Examples of output from the KalmanFilter processing 1900 are predicted observations 1922, which may beused by other processes. Examples of the outputs are adjustments to aposition fix, adjustments to Doppler shift information to reconstructcarrier phase information, or adjustments to extracted pseudorangeinformation, according to various embodiments.

A basic Kalman Filter implemented using Kalman Filter processing 1900typically has at least two major components 1910: states 1911 andcovariances 1912. States 1911 represent variables that are used todescribe a system being modeled, at a particular moment in time.Covariances 1912 are represented in a covariance matrix that describesuncertainty, or lack of confidence, of states 1911 with respect to eachother at that same moment in time. Kalman Filter processing 1900 alsohandles noise, or unpredictable variability, in the model. There are twoprincipal types of noise, observation noise 1941 and process noise 1921.A Kalman Filter may handle additional noise types, in some embodiments.Process noise 1921 describes noise of the states 1911 as a function oftime. Observation noise 1941 is noise that relates to the actualobservation(s) 1940 (e.g., observed measurements) that are used as aninput/update to Kalman Filtering process 1900.

A prediction phase 1920 is the first phase of Kalman Filter processing1900. Prediction phase 1920 uses predictive models to propagate states1911 to the time of an actual observation(s) 1940. Prediction phase 1920also uses process noise 1921 and predictive models to propagate thecovariances 1912 to time of the actual observation(s) 1940 as well. Thepropagated states 1911 are used to make predicted observation(s) 1922for the time of actual observation(s) 1940.

A correction phase 1930 is the second phase in the Kalman Filterprocessing 1900. During correction phase 1930, Kalman Filter processing1900 uses the difference between the predicted observation(s) 1922 andthe actual observation(s) 1940 to create an observation measurementresidual 1931, which may commonly be called the “measurement residual.”Observation noise 1941 can be noise in actual observation(s) 1940 and/ornoise that occurs in the process of taking the actual observation(s)1940. A Kalman gain 1932 is calculated using both the covariances 1912and the observation noise 1941. The states 1911 are then updated usingthe Kalman Gain 1932 multiplied by the observation measurement residual1931. The covariances 1912 are also updated using a function related tothe Kalman gain 1932; for example, in one embodiment where Kalman gain1932 is limited to a value between 0 and 1, this function may be 1 minusthe Kalman gain 1932. This updating is sometimes referred to as the“covariance update.” The Blending factor logic 1933 is logic forweighting the movement information and using the weighted movementinformation or not using the movement information, as discussed herein.

In some embodiments, if no actual observation 1940 is available, KalmanFilter processing 1900 can simply skip correction phase 1930 and updatethe states 1911 and covariances 1912 using only the information fromprediction phase 1920, and then begin again. Using the new definitionsof the states 1911 and covariances 1912, Kalman Filter processing 1900is ready to begin again and/or to be iteratively accomplished.

Other applications of the Kalman Filter processing 1900 may includecorrecting smoothed pseudoranges or correcting unsmoothed pseudorangesby incorporating various other external correction inputs such as DGPS,RTX, PPP, SBAS, WAAS, RTK, VRS and the like, as described herein. Forexample, any one or more of the correction logics 151A-151G could beimplemented with Kalman Filter processing 1900. Other algorithms forincorporating corrections to pseudoranges are well known in the positiondetermination arts involving GPS and GNSS.

Kalman Filter processing 1900 could be used for filter 1524D to providereconstructed carrier phase information 1502D based on extracted Dopplershift information 1501D.

Kalman Filter processing 1900 could be used for filter 1534E to smoothextracted raw pseudoranges 1501E based on carrier phase information(CPI) 1502E, real or reconstructed, to provide smoothed pseudoranges1503E.

Kalman Filter processing 1900 could be used for filter 1512F to applylocally measured movement (LMM) information 1502F to calculated positionfixes 1501F, as discussed herein.

Inputs to a Kalman Filter could include accelerometer data; image basedposition shift data; GNSS-based position fix data, with shifts inposition vs. time; generic weighting factors such as length of timeaccelerometer data is valid; length of time image-based position shiftdata is valid; metric for discarding a GNSS position fix or positionshift, for example, in terms of how many centimeters (cm) is allowablebefore discarding.

A Kalman Filter could calculate and output, for example, time-varyingweighting factors; difference between GNSS position fix shifts andexternal sensor position shifts; a new position fix (also referred to asan “interpolated”) based on locally measured movement (LMM) informationto be used instead of a deleted position fix that is an “outlier.”

The Kalman Filter's states 1911 (also known as “state parameters”) arethe parameters that the Kalman Filter calculates and outputs, asdiscussed herein. According to one embodiment, the state parameters areestimated.

The Kalman Filter's measurement model 1910 represents how themeasurements are related to the state parameters 1911 and themeasurement noise covariance matrix 1912 (i.e., the variances of eachmeasurement). According to one embodiment, the measurements areestimated.

The Kalman Filter's System Model specifies how the state parametersevolve over time. Normally the system model is described in terms of astate transition matrix and system driving noise covariance matrix, suchas x(k+1)=StateTransitionMatrix*x(k)+SystemDrivingNoiseCovMatrix,wherein the system model is model component 1910, the state transitionmodel is states 1911, and the system driving noise covariance matrix iscovariances 1912.

The Kalman Filter's initial conditions of the filters, according to oneembodiment, are given in terms of the initial state covariance matrixand the initial state vector.

The inputs and outputs for filter 1534E, according to one embodiment,for the raw pseudorange smoothing based on CPI (carrier phaseinformation) logic 1530C is as follows:

Inputs: raw pseudoranges, carrier phase, reconstructed carrier phase.

Outputs: Smoothed pseudoranges

The inputs and outputs for the Filter 1512F, according to oneembodiment, for the movement sensor position fix smoothing logic 1510Cis as follows:

Inputs: accelerometer data, image capture position shift data derivedfrom Sequential Rolling Bundle Adjustment estimator; timedependent/distance dependent weighting factors.

Outputs: disciplined Position Fixes including (1) position fixes fromGNSS receiver, unsmoothed [no LMM active], (2) position fixes from GNSSreceiver, disciplined by LMM data, (3) position fixes from GNSS receiverwherein LMM data is substituted for discarded, and (4) GNSS positionfixes.

Methods for Improving Position Fix Determination

FIG. 20A is a flowchart of a method 2000A for improving position fixdetermination of a cellular device using locally measured movement,according to one embodiment.

At 2010A, the method begins.

At 2020A, the GNSS chipset embedded within the cellular device isaccessed. The GNSS chipset calculates raw observables that include rawpseudoranges and one of either Doppler Shift Information or Real CarrierPhase Information. The GNSS chipset can be accessed in a manner similarto that described in the context of operation 620 of FIG. 6.

At 2030A, the raw observables are extracted from the GNSS chipset forprocessing elsewhere in the cellular device outside of the GNSS chipset.For example, the raw observables can be extracted from the GNSS chipsetin a manner similar to that described in the context of operation 630 ofFIG. 6. The extracted raw observables may be raw pseudoranges, rawpseudoranges and Real Carrier Phase information, or raw pseudoranges andDoppler Shift Information. The same or different commands may be usedfor extracting each of the types of raw observables. For example, thesame command may be used to extract the raw pseudoranges, the realcarrier phase information and the Doppler shift information, or similarcommands may be used for extracting the raw pseudoranges, the realcarrier phase information and the Doppler shift information.

At 2040A, a position fix is determined based on the raw observables. Forexample, a position fix may be determined based on the raw pseudoranges,a position fix may be determined based on smoothed pseudoranges thatwere smoothed based on real or reconstructed carrier phase information.A position fix may be determined based on corrected pseudoranges,uncorrected pseudoranges, unsmoothed pseudoranges, smoothedpseudoranges, or a combination thereof.

At 2050A, locally measured cellular device movement information isobtained from at least one sensor that is in a known physicalrelationship with the cellular device. Examples of a sensor that isinternal to a cellular device are accelerometer 1502A and an imagecapturing device 1540G. Examples of a known physical relationship is asensor that is internal to a cellular device, such as sensors 1502A or1540G. However, a sensor with a known physical relationship with thecellular device may be external to the cellular device. Examples of anexternal sensor with a known physical relationship to a cellular deviceis image capturing device 1540J. Examples of locally measured cellulardevice movement information are depicted in plots 1812A, 1818B, 1818C,1812C, 1812D, and 1818D.

At 2060A, the locally measured cellular device movement information isapplied to the position fix. Examples of position fixes, which locallymeasured cellular device movement information can be applied to, are theposition fixes depicted in the plots 1814A, 1814B, 1814C, 1814D andposition fix 1560C.

The locally measured cellular device movement information (also referredto as “LMM information”) can be applied to the position fix. Forexample, the position fix may be discarded based on the application ofthe LMM information to the position fix. If the application of the LMMinformation results in determining the accuracy of a position fix,determining that the position fix is an “outlier,” the position fix canbe removed, the removed position fix can be replaced by a new positionfix that is calculated based on LMM information, as described herein,among other things. Kalman Filtering Logic, such as filter 1512F usingKalman Filter processing 1900, can be used for determining the accuracy,determining if the position fix is an “outlier,” removing the “outlier,”calculating the new position fix, replacing the “outlier” with the newposition fix, as discussed herein. The removal of one or more positionfixes that are identified as “outliers” is also referred to assmoothing.

FIGS. 18A-18D depict various patterns of movement information that maybe used from a single sensor or two sensors, according to variousembodiments, as a part of applying movement information to one or moreposition fixes.

The blending factor logic 1933 is logic for weighting the movementinformation and using the weighted movement information or not using themovement information, as discussed herein. Blending factors logic 1933can be used for determining how to blend the movement information basedon one or more weights, as discussed herein. Various patterns ofblending, as depicted in FIGS. 18A-18D, can result from the blendingfactors logic 1933. One or more weights can be used to achieve thepatterns, as discussed herein.

Operation 2060A can be performed in pseudorange information processinglogic 1550A. Operation 2060A shall be described in more detail in thecontext of FIGS. 21-27C. Another example of operation 2060A is operation1425 (FIG. 14).

At 2070A, the method ends.

The processing of method 2000A can be performed in a loop for eachdetermined position fix 1821C-1827C as a user is moving. For example,LMM information can be applied to each position fix 1821C-1827C.Further, LMM information can be used as a part of calculating a newposition fix to replace each position fix that is discarded as the useris moving.

FIG. 20B depicts a flowchart of a method 2000B of improving positiondetermination of a cellular device using locally measured movementinformation, according to one embodiment.

At 2010B, the method begins.

At 2020B, the accuracy of a position fix is determined.

For example, referring to FIG. 18C, the accuracy of any one of theposition fixes 1821C-1827C may be determined. In this illustrationassume that the accuracy of the position fixes 1821C-1825C and 1827Cindicate that they are acceptable and the accuracy of position fix 1826Cis an “outlier.”

Referring to FIG. 18E, the accuracy of any one of position fixes P0-P9may be determined. In this illustration, assume that the accuracy of theposition fixes P0-P7 and P9 indicate that they are acceptable and theaccuracy of position fix P8 is an “outlier,” as discussed herein.

Embodiments are also well suited to using Delta-GNSSs 1840A, 18408,1840C, ΔP₁₀ to ΔP₈₇, combined GNSS delta cdg and Delta-LMMs 1860A,1850B, 1850C, 1860C, D1-D8 or blended LMM-Delta bdl, or a combinationthereof, as described herein, for determining the accuracy of positionfixes. A blended Delta-LMM bdl may be a blend of two or more LMM-Deltasthat are blended using weighting factors as discussed herein.

At 2030B, a determination is made as to whether to discard a positionfix based on the position fix's accuracy.

For example, referring to FIG. 18C, in this illustration assume thatposition fix 1826C is selected to be discarded because the accuracy ofposition fix 1826C indicates it is an “outlier.”

Referring to FIG. 18E, in this illustration, assume that position fix P8is selected to be discarded because the accuracy of the position fix P8indicates it is an “outlier.”

At 2040B, the selected position fix is discarded.

For example, referring to FIG. 18C, in this illustration, position fix1826C is removed and, therefore, will not be output to a user as aposition fix 1560C. Since the accuracy of position fixes 1821C-1825C and1827C indicate that they are not outliers, they will be output asposition fixes 1560C.

In another example, referring to FIG. 18E, in this illustration,position fixe P8 is removed and, therefore, will not be output to a useras position fixes 1560C. Since the accuracy of the position fixe P0 toP7 and P9 indicate that they are not outliers, they will be output asposition fixes 1560C.

At 2050B, a new position fix can be calculated based on LMM information.

For example, a trajectory of the direction that the user of the cellulardevice is moving can be determined based on two or more of the positionfixes that precede the discarded position fix. The distance indicated byLMM information from one or more sensors in combination with thetrajectory can be used to estimate a new position fix of the cellulardevice. The LMM information can be a blend of two or more sensors usingweights and patterns of blending, as discussed herein.

According to one embodiment, the trajectory can be determined using twoprevious position fixes with x, y and z coordinates. A vector directioncan be determined based on the two position fixes that occur before theposition discarded position fix. For example, assuming the thirdposition fix depicted in plot 1814A (FIG. 18A) will be discarded, thevector direction can be determined based on the first and secondposition fixes depicted in plot 1814A.

More specifically, referring to FIG. 18C, assume that the discardedposition fix 1826C indicated that the user moved 6 feet and the LMMinformation from the one or more sensors indicated the person moved 3feet. Assume for the sake of illustration that two or more positionfixes, such as for example, 1821C-1825C (FIG. 18C) that precede thediscarded position fix 1826C indicate the trajectory that the cellulardevice is moving along. The new position fix 1828C can be determinedbased by adding the 3 feet to the position fix 1825C that immediatelyprecedes the discarded position fix 1826C in the direction of thetrajectory.

In another example, referring to FIG. 18E, two or more calculatedposition fixes P0-P7 that precede the discarded position fix P8 can beused to determine a trajectory that the cellular device is moving along.For example, the position fixes P(ti−2), also known as P6, and P(ti−1),also known as P7, may be used could be used to determine the trajectory.There are a variety of other estimation methods to determine a bestestimate for the vector direction that are well-known in the estimationarts.

The distance that the cellular device has traveled from 5 to 6 can bedetermined based on locally measured movement (LMM) information from oneor more sensors (also referred to as “LMM distance”). The new positionfix 1802E (also referred to as “P_(EST)(ti)” or “LMM position fix”) canbe determined by adding the LMM distance D8 to the calculated positionfix P(ti−1), also known as P7, which immediately precedes the discardedposition fix P8, in the direction of the trajectory.

The calculation of the new position fix 1802E is also referred to as“interpolating,” for example, because the calculation involvesdetermining a trajectory, as discussed herein, and adding the “LMMdistance” D8, which was determined based on the LMM information, thatthe cellular device has been moved between the preceding measurements(at ti−1 in this example) and the current measurements (at ti in thisexample). For example, if the position fix is not needed in real time,then the additional data points collected subsequent to the outlierposition may also be used to determine a best fit position fix toreplace the “outlier.”

Although only two previous position fixes P(ti−2) and P(ti−1) were usedto determine a trajectory for the example depicted on FIG. 18E,embodiments are well suited to using more position fixes. The positionfixes may precede the “outlier,” succeed the “outlier,” or a combinationthereof.

At 2060B, the “outlier” position fix is replaced with the new positionfix.

For example, referring to FIG. 18C, position fix 1826C is replaced withthe new position fix 1828C.

In another example, referring to FIG. 18E, the calculated position fixP8 is replaced with the new position fix 1802E, also known as Pest(ti).

At 2070B, the method 2000B ends.

LMM-deltas can be compared to each other directly. An LMM position fixcan be found by adding the LMM-delta for a given time period to apreviously position fix. The previous position fix may be a position fixthat was determined based on extracted raw pseudoranges or an LMMposition fix. LMM position fixes can be compared directly with eachother.

“Smoothing” position fixes can include, according to one embodiment, oneor more of 2020B-20260B. The discarding (2040B) of a position fix andreplacing (2050B) the discarded position fix with a new position fix isalso referred to as “adjusting” or “modifying” a position fix. Forexample, the discarded position fix is adjusted or modified to be thenew position fix.

Method 2000B can be performed iterative for each position fix1821C-1827C (FIG. 18C), position fix P0-P9 (FIG. 18E) in a loop. Forexample, in a first iteration of the loop, position fix 1821C can beprocessed with method 2000B, then in a second iteration of the loop,position fix 1822C can be processed with method 2000B. In thisillustration, the position fixes 1821C-1825C, 1828C, 1827C would beoutput as position fixes 1560C (FIG. 15C).

According to one embodiment, the method 2000B is performed bypseudorange information processing logic 1550A.

According to various embodiments, method 2000B can be performed as apart of operation 2060A (FIG. 20A). A filter, such as filter 1512F, canbe used to perform the method 2000B, according to various embodiments.

Although, for the sake of simplicity, flowchart 2000B was discussed inthe context of FIG. 18C and FIG. 18E, various embodiments are wellsuited to other position fixes.

FIG. 21 is a flowchart of a method 2100 of improving positiondetermination of a cellular device using locally measured movementinformation from an image capturing device, according to one embodiment.

At 2110, the method starts. Processing proceeds to 2120.

At 2120, a determination is made as to whether a current image withmovement information is available from the image capturing device. Oneor more images are taken with an image capturing device are examples ofmovement information.

If this is the first image taken with the image capturing device 1540Gsince it was reset, then the first image can be used as the currentimage. Otherwise, the next image taken with the image capturing device1540G can be used as the current image.

If movement information is available, processing proceeds to 2125. Ifmovement information is not available, processing proceeds back to 2120.Operation 2120 can be performed by ICD movement information accessinglogic 1512B.

At 2125, if the current image is the first image or if movement theimage capturing device exceeds a distance threshold, then reset theimage capturing device to use the current image as a reference image.For example, the current image is used as a new reference image when theimage capturing device 1540G movement exceeds a distance threshold sincethe current reference image was taken or since the previous image,depending on how far the image capturing device 1540G has been moved, orhow much time has passed. The creation of an association between thecurrent image and one or more previous images will be interfered with ifthe image capturing device 1540G has been moved too far or if too muchtime has passed. For example, a range of a distance threshold isapproximately 3 to 10 feet when a new reference image may be taken.Typically a new reference image is taken and used if the image capturingdevice 1540G has moved about 10 feet or more. One of the limitingfactors is being able to track original feature points in a previousreference image. A new reference image might take and used (alsoreferred to as “renewing”) after a movement of 3 feet. This renewalfeature of the reference frame is variable and can be subject toexperimental validation for the type of image obtained with the imagecapturing device 1540G. Operation 2125 can be performed by the ICDmovement information accessing logic 1512B. Processing proceeds to 2130.

At 2130, the movement information of the current image from the imagecapturing device is accessed and stored. The movement information can bestored in memory 210. Memory 210 may be cleared after a period of time,or after an accumulation of a specified number of images. Since memorycosts continue to decline, the size of memory may be determined by theuse case, and in event, the use of external memory cards, such as SD,SDHC, etc., may prove to be sufficient. Operation 2130 can be performedby ICD movement information accessing logic 1512B. Processing proceedsto 2140.

At 2140, a determination is made as to whether the movement informationof the current image exceeds a limiting factor for that type of movementinformation. For example, according to one embodiment, a determinationcan be made as to whether there are at least 30 features associated withan image obtained from the image capturing device. The minimum may beincreased based on environmental conditions. The minimum may be factoryset or adjustable in the field.

If the limiting factor is exceeded, then processing proceeds back to2120. For example, if there are less than 30-50 features associated withthe image, then the image is not used and processing proceeds to 2120.This number of minimum feature set may be as low as 10. Accuracy willdecrease with the decrease in feature set size.

If the limiting factor is not exceeded, the processing proceeds to 2150.For example, if there are more than approximately 100-200 featuresassociated with the image, then the image can be used to improve thequality or improve the accuracy of the extracted pseudorange informationat 2150. Operation 2150 can be performed by ICD limiting factor logic1544C.

At 2150, the LMM information is applied to the position fix, forexample, as described by operation 2060A and/or flowchart 2000B.

FIG. 22 is a flowchart of a method 2200 of improving positiondetermination of a cellular device using locally measured movementinformation from an accelerometer, according to one embodiment.

At 2210, the method begins. Processing proceeds to 2220.

At 2220, a determination is made as to whether the cellular device ismoving. If the cellular device is not moving, processing proceeds to2230. If the cellular device is moving, processing proceeds to 2270. Theaccelerometer 1502A can be used to perform 2220.

At 2230, the accelerometer and the time are reset to zero. Theaccelerometer movement information accessing logic 1512A can performoperation 2230. Processing can proceed to 2240.

At 2240, movement information is obtained from the accelerometer andstored. The movement information can be stored in memory 210. Theaccelerometer movement information accessing logic 1512A can performoperation 2230. Processing can proceed to 2250.

At 2250, a determination is made as to whether a limiting factor of theaccelerometer has been exceeded. For example, a determination can bemade as to whether approximately 10 seconds have passed since the timewas set to zero at 2230. If the limiting factor has been exceeded, thenprocessing can proceed to 2270. For example, if more than approximately10 seconds have passed since the time was set to zero at 2230, theprocessing can proceed to 2270. If the limiting factor has not beenexceeded, then processing can proceed to 2260. For example, ifapproximately 10 seconds have not passed since the time was set to zeroat 2230, then processing can proceed to 2260. Accelerometer limitingfactor logic 1542C can perform operation 2250.

At 2260, LMM information from the accelerometer is applied to a positionfix, for example, as described by operation 2060A and/or flowchart 2000B

At 2270, optionally a message can be displayed to the user asking theuser if the user wants to stop moving the accelerometer so that it canbe reset because a limiting factor has been exceeded. Accelerometerlimiting factor logic 1542C can perform operation 2270. Processing canproceed to operation 2220.

According to one embodiment, one or more position fixes are passedthrough an LMM smoothing process, such as movement sensor position fixsmoothing logic 1510C, even if no locally measured movement informationis currently available. For example, even if the accelerometer is past athreshold, such as 10 seconds, and the image capturing device is notturned on, so the locally measured movement information is notavailable, one or more position fix(es) may still be passed through themovement sensor position fix smoothing logic 1510C.

The first time that operations 2130, 2240 are executed, an initialamount locally measured movement information is obtained. However,subsequent times that the operations 2130, 2240 are performed in theirrespective loops, additional locally measured cellular device movementinformation may be obtained. The additional locally measured cellulardevice movement information can be applied to an additional position fixthat was determined based on additional raw pseudoranges that were, forexample, obtained or extracted after an initial amount of rawpseudoranges that were used to determine, for example, a previousposition fix.

FIG. 23 is a flowchart of a method of performing sequential rollingbundle adjustments, according to one embodiment.

For the sake of illustration, assume that the images are associated witha video that is at 10. For this example assume that the video is at 10Hz such that the images are at 1, 1.1, 1.2, . . . 2.0.

At 2310, the method begins.

At 2320, GPS positions are collected at time 1s and 2s along withsynchronized video 2320. Processing proceeds to operation 2330.

At 2330, the image processing algorithm is initialized. Operations 2332,2334, 2336 can be performed as a part of 2330.

At 2332, tie points are provided by finding matching features in, forexample, 10 images.

At 2334, perform bundle adjustment on data points and associate withfirst GNSS position fix

“Bundle adjustment” refers to the process of adjusting the imagecapturing device's position and orientation so that the bundles of raypaths from the features being tracked in the second image are made tomatch the original bundles of ray paths from the feature locations inthe first image. The mathematical process is well known in the MatchMove arts. This is an image processing step and is not related to anyother kind of input data. Sequential rolling bundle adjustments speedthe process by only dealing with the most significant changes.

At 2336, the estimated position and orientation of image capturingdevice is outputted.

At 2340, at time 2.1, find correspondences and run sequential rollingbundle adjustment.

At 2350, new image measurements continue to be added as new imagesarrive.

At 2360, new GPS positions are added as they arrive.

At 2370, new tie points are found as necessary and added to bundleadjustments.

At 2380, the method ends.

According to various embodiments, the method depicted in FIG. 23provides trajectory smoothing effect because the image measurements havea high level of precision. Higher rate positions would be available withhigher rate image capturing devices provided the image capturing deviceshave sufficient processing power, and GPS outages could be bridged.

According to one embodiment, at least 5 image samples (also referred toas “5 points,” “5 key points,” or “5 features”) are used from one imageto the next as a part of determining position fixes. The minimum of 5points is used to provide scale. For example, if there are 5 points in apair of images, then there are 5*2 (x and y)*2 (images)=20 measurementswith 5*3 (X,Y,Z)+6 (delta X, Y, Z, roll, pitch, yaw)=21 unknowns. Thescale can come from the fact that there are GPS positions at previousepochs, or it could come from ground control, or it could come fromknowing approximately the positions of the 5 key points from previousepochs. Therefore, according to one embodiment, the additional locallymeasured cellular device movement information is applied to theadditional position fix if the additional locally measured cellulardevice movement information includes at least 5 features in the image.According to one embodiment, the additional locally measured cellulardevice movement information is based on an image and the limiting factoris at least 5 features in the image.

FIGS. 24A to 24C are flow charts for determining what, if any, of thesensor devices can be used, according to one embodiment.

Flowchart 2400 starts at 2410. At 2420, a decision is performed todetermine whether an operational accelerometer is available that iscapable of providing quality above a specified threshold. If thedecision to 2420 is yes, processing proceeds to 2430. If the decision to2420 is no, processing proceeds to 2440.

At 2430, a decision is performed to determine whether an operationalimage capturing device is available that is capable of providing aposition fix above a specified threshold. If the answer to the decisionat 2430 is yes, then processing proceeds to 2450 indicating that locallymeasured movement information can be obtained from both theaccelerometer and the image capturing device. If the answer to thedetermination at 2430 is no, then processing proceeds to 2460 indicatingthat locally measured movement information may still be obtained fromonly the accelerometer.

At 2440, a decision is performed to determine whether an operationalimage capturing device is available that is capable of providing qualityabove a specified threshold. If the answer to the decision at 2440 isyes, then processing proceeds to 2470 indicating that locally measuredmovement information can be obtained only from image capturing device.If the answer to the determination at 2440 is no, then processingproceeds to 2480 indicating that locally measured movement informationwill not be obtained.

FIG. 24B depicts a flowchart with more details for the processing of2430 and 2440, according to various embodiments. At 2402B, a decision isperformed as to whether the cellular device has an image capturingdevice (ICD). If the decision for 2402B is no, then the decision for2430 is no. If the decision for 2402B is yes, then processing proceedsto 2404B where a determination is made as to whether the image capturingdevice is turned on. If the answer to the decision at 2402B is no,processing proceeds to 2406B where the image capturing device is turnedon. After either 2404B or 2406B, the image capturing device is turned onand the answer to the decision for 2430 or 2440 is yes and processingcan proceed, according to one embodiment, to flowchart 2100 depicted onFIG. 21.

FIG. 24C depicts a flowchart with more details for the processing of2420, according to various embodiments. At 2402C a decision is performedas to whether the cellular device has an accelerometer (ACC). If thecellular device does not have an accelerometer, then the decision for2420 is no. If the cellular device has an accelerometer, then the answerfor decision 2402C is yes and processing proceeds to 2410C.

At 2410C, processing proceeds to flowchart 2200 depicted on FIG. 22.

FIG. 25 depicts a flowchart 2500 for improving a position fix based onlocally measured movement information, according to one embodiment.

At 2510, the method begins. Processing proceeds to 2520.

At 2520, raw pseudoranges are accessed. For example, a GNSS chipset canbe accessed and the raw pseudoranges can be extracted as discussedherein. Raw pseudoranges are one type of raw observables. Other types ofraw observables such as real carrier phase information or Doppler ShiftInformation can also be accessed at 2520. The extracted raw pseudorangescan be stored in memory 210. Processing proceeds to 2530.

At 2530, smoothing can be performed using carrier phase information,which is real or reconstructed, if the carrier phase information isavailable. The smoothing can be performed on the extracted rawpseudoranges. The output of 2530 is smoothed uncorrected pseudoranges,if carrier phase information is available. Otherwise, the output of 2530is unsmoothed uncorrected pseudoranges. According to one embodiment, ifboth Doppler Shift Information and real carrier phase information areavailable, real carrier phase information will be used instead ofDoppler Shift Information. Processing proceeds to 2540.

At 2540, external corrections can optionally be applied to the output of2530. Processing proceeds to 2550.

At 2550, a position fix is determined based on the output of 2520, 2530,or 2540 depending on which was last performed since 2530 and 2540 areoptional. Processing proceeds to 2560.

At 2560, the position fix from 2550 can optionally be smoothed based onlocally measured movement information from a sensor with a knownphysical relationship to a cellular device, such as an accelerometer oran image capturing device. At 2560, LMM information from one or moresensors can be applied to the position fix from 2550, as describedherein. Processing proceeds to 2580.

At 2580, the method ends.

Operations 2530, 2540, 2550 and 2560 are a part of improving positiondetermination, according to various embodiments, by processing rawobservables 2570.

FIGS. 26A-26G depict flowcharts for improving position determinationusing LMM information, according to various embodiments.

FIG. 26A depicts a flowchart 2600A for obtaining and storing rawobservables. The raw observables can be obtained by extracting them froma GNSS chipset 170 and stored in memory 210. FIG. 26B-26G depictrespective flowcharts 2600B-2600G for processing the raw extractedobservables. More specifically, FIG. 26F depicts a flowchart 2600F forprocessing raw observables based on real carrier phase information. FIG.26D depicts a flowchart 2600D for processing raw observables based onreconstructed carrier phase information that was reconstructed based onDoppler Shift Information. FIG. 26B is used for processing rawobservables when neither Doppler Shift nor Real Carrier Phaseinformation is available.

Referring to FIG. 26A, the flow chart starts at 2601A and proceeds to2600A.

At 2600A, raw observables are obtained and stored. More specifically,processing proceeds from the start 2601 to determining whether rawpseudoranges are available at 2610A and 2617A. If raw pseudoranges arenot available, processing proceeds to 2605A. If raw pseudoranges areavailable, then processing proceeds to 2615A.

At 2605A, a message is displayed indicating to the user that a positionfix cannot be provided because raw pseudoranges are not available.

At 2617A, timers are reset. These timers are for the time thresholdsthat are used to determine if enough, such as a predetermined amount,real carrier phase information or enough Doppler Shift Information havebeen obtained within their respective time thresholds.

At 2615A, raw pseudoranges are continuously obtained and stored using acontinuous loop 2660A. For example, raw pseudoranges can continuously beextracted from the GNSS chipset 170 and stored in memory 210.

At 2620A, a determination is made as to whether real carrier phaseInformation (Real CPI or RCPI) is available. If real carrier phaseinformation is available, processing proceeds to 2630A. If real carrierphase information is not available, then processing proceeds to 2625A.

At 2630A, real carrier phase information is obtained and stored.Processing proceeds to 2640A. For example, real carrier phaseinformation can continuously be extracted from the GNSS chipset 170 andstored in memory 210.

At 2640A, a determination is made as to whether a time threshold hasexpired for obtaining real carrier phase information. If a timethreshold for obtaining has not expired, then processing proceeds backto 2630A where additional real carrier phase information is obtained andstored. For example, additional real carrier phase information can beextracted from the GNSS receiver 107 and stored in memory 210. If thetime threshold has expired, indicating there is enough, such as apredetermined amount, data to begin applying LMM information to one ormore position fixes, processing proceeds to flowchart 2600F on FIG. 26F.

At 2625A, a determination is made as to whether Doppler ShiftInformation (DSI) is available. If Doppler Shift information is notavailable, processing proceeds to flowchart 2600B on FIG. 26B. IfDoppler Shift Information is available, processing proceeds to 2635A.

At 2635A, Doppler Shift Information is obtained and stored. For example,Doppler Shift information can continuously be extracted from the GNSSchipset 170 and stored in memory 210. Processing proceeds to 2645A.

At 2645A, a determination is made as to whether a time threshold hasexpired for obtaining Doppler Shift Information. If a time threshold forobtaining has not expired, then processing proceeds back to 2635A whereadditional Doppler Shift Information is obtained and stored. If the timethreshold has expired, then enough Doppler shift information has beenobtained and processing proceeds to flowchart 2600D on FIG. 26D.

According to various embodiments, approximately 20-100 seconds of rawobservables, such as raw pseudoranges, real carrier phase information,and Doppler Shift Information, are obtained, for example, at least at1413, 1415, 1416 (FIG. 14), 2615A, 2630A, 2635A (FIG. 26A).

Two or more of obtaining pseudoranges at 2610A, obtaining real carrierphase information at 2630A and obtaining Doppler Shift Information at2635A can be performed concurrently, for example, by one or moreprocessors 109. Further, two or more of obtaining pseudoranges at 2610A,obtaining real carrier phase information at 2630A and obtaining DopplerShift Information at 2635A can be performed by separate processes orthreads that are executed concurrently, for example, by one or moreprocessors 109.

Referring to FIG. 26B, at 2605B, raw pseudoranges 2610B are obtainedfrom memory 210. The raw pseudoranges were placed into memory 210 at2615A (FIG. 26A). The processing of the raw pseudoranges 2610B proceedsto 2625B. The raw pseudorange 2610B are uncorrected and unsmoothed.

At 2625B, external corrections are optionally applied to the rawpseudoranges 2610B. Processing proceeds to 2630B.

At 2630B, a determination is made as to whether external correctionswere applied at 2625B. If external corrections were not applied,processing of the raw uncorrected pseudoranges 2610B proceeds to 2631B.If external corrections were applied, processing of the correctedpseudoranges 2640B proceeds to 2641B.

At 2631B, an unsmoothed uncorrected position fix 2632B is determinedbased on the raw unsmoothed uncorrected pseudoranges 2610B.

At 2641B, an unsmoothed corrected position fix 2642B is determined basedon the unsmoothed corrected pseudoranges 2640B.

At 2645B, the unsmoothed uncorrected position fix 2632B is optionallysmoothed using locally measured movement information. The locallymeasured movement (LMM) information can be obtained from memory 210 at2655B. The locally measured movement (LMM) information may have beenplaced into memory 210 at either 2130 (FIG. 21) or 2240 (FIG. 22) orboth 2130 and 2240. Processing of the smoothed uncorrected position fix2660B can proceed to 2670B.

At 2670B the smoothed uncorrected position fix 2660B can be provided toa user. If the position fix 2632B is not smoothed at 2645B, then theunsmoothed uncorrected position fix 2632B is provided to the user at2670B. Processing can proceed back to 2605B.

At 2650B, the unsmoothed corrected position fix 2640B can be smoothedusing locally measured movement information. The locally measuredmovement (LMM) information can be obtained from memory 210 at 2655B. Thelocally measured movement (LMM) information may have been placed intomemory 210 at either 2130 (FIG. 21) or 2240 (FIG. 22) or both 2130 and2240. Processing of the smoothed corrected position fix 2665B canproceed to 2675B.

At 2675B the smoothed corrected position fix 2665B can be provided to auser. If the position fix 2642B is not smoothed at 2650B, then theunsmoothed corrected position fix 2642B is provided to the user at2675B. Processing can proceed back to 2605B.

Referring to FIG. 26C, the flow chart 2600C can be performedconcurrently with flowchart 2600B (FIG. 26B), to determine whethereither real carrier phase information or Doppler Shift Informationbecomes available and switch to processing raw pseudoranges based onreal carrier phase information or Doppler Shift Information if enough,such as a predetermined amount, of either becomes available.

For example, at 2605C, timers are reset. For example, a timer for thereal carrier phase information threshold that is checked at 2630C and atimer for the Doppler Shift Information that is checked at 2635C arereset.

At 2610C, a determination is made as to whether real carrier phaseInformation (Real CPI or RCPI) is available. If real carrier phaseinformation is available, processing proceeds to 2620C. If real carrierphase information is not available, then processing proceeds to 2615C.

At 2620C, real carrier phase information is obtained and stored. Forexample, real carrier phase information can continuously be extractedfrom the GNSS chipset 170 and stored in memory 210. Processing proceedsto 2630C.

At 2630A, a determination is made as to whether a time threshold hasexpired for obtaining real carrier phase information. If a timethreshold for obtaining has not expired, then processing proceeds backto 2620C where additional real carrier phase information is obtained andstored. For example, additional carrier phase information can beextracted from the GNSS chipset 170 and stored in memory 210. If thetime threshold has expired indicating enough, such as a predeterminedamount, real carrier phase information has been obtained, processingproceeds to flowchart 2600F on FIG. 26F.

At 2615C, a determination is made as to whether Doppler ShiftInformation (DSI) is available. If Doppler Shift information is notavailable, processing proceeds to flowchart 2600B on FIG. 26B. IfDoppler Shift Information is available, processing proceeds to 2625C.

At 2625C, Doppler Shift Information is obtained and stored. For example,Doppler Shift information can continuously be extracted from the GNSSchipset 170 and stored in memory 210. Processing proceeds to 2635C.

At 2635C, a determination is made as to whether a time threshold hasexpired for obtaining Doppler Shift Information. If a time threshold forobtaining has not expired, then processing proceeds back to 2625C whereadditional Doppler Shift Information is obtained and stored. Forexample, additional Doppler Shift information can be extracted from theGNSS chipset 170 and stored in memory 210. If the time threshold hasexpired, then enough Doppler Shift Information has been obtained andprocessing proceeds to flowchart 2600D on FIG. 26D.

Referring to FIG. 26D, at 2605D, Doppler Shift Information 2610D isobtained from storage. The Doppler Shift Information 2610D can beobtained from memory 210 where it was placed, for example, at 2635A(FIG. 26A). The processing of the Doppler Shift Information 2610Dproceeds to 2615D.

At 2615D, the Doppler Shift Information is processed to providereconstructed carrier phase information 2620D. A filter 1524D (FIG. 15D)or some other type of integration logic 1522D (FIG. 15D) can be used toreconstruct carrier phase information based on Doppler ShiftInformation. Processing can proceed to 2625D.

At 2625D, raw pseudoranges 2630D are obtained from memory 210. The rawpseudoranges 2630D can be obtained from memory 210 where it was placed,for example, at 2615A (FIG. 26A). The raw pseudoranges 2630D areuncorrected and unsmoothed. The processing of the raw pseudoranges 2630Dcan proceed to 2635D.

At 2635D, the raw pseudoranges 2630D are smoothed using thereconstructed carrier phase information 2620D provided at 2615D. Afilter 1534E (FIG. 15E) or the hatch logic 1532E (FIG. 15E) can be usedfor smoothing the raw pseudoranges 2630D with the reconstructed carrierphase information 2620D at 2635D. Processing of the smoothed uncorrectedpseudoranges 2640D from 2635D proceeds to 2655D.

At 2655D, external corrections are optionally applied to the smootheduncorrected pseudoranges 2640D. External corrections are pseudorangescorrections that can be obtained, for example, from a correction sourcesuch as at least correction service 221, FM radio distribution 226, orsatellite radio distributor 227, or a combination thereof. According toone embodiment, a correction source is located outside of the cellulardevice (also referred to as an “external correction source,” and,therefore, corrections from the correction source are referred to as“external corrections” or “external pseudorange corrections.” Examplesof external corrections include WAAS, SBAS, DGPS, PPP, RTK, VRS and RTXcorrections. Processing proceeds to 2660D.

At 2660D, a determination is made as to whether external correctionswere applied at 2655D. If corrections were applied, processing of thesmoothed corrected pseudoranges 2670D proceeds from 2655D proceeds to2671D. If corrections were not applied, processing of the smootheduncorrected pseudoranges 2640D proceeds to 2661D.

At 2661D, a smoothed uncorrected position fix 2662D is determined basedon the smoothed uncorrected pseudoranges 2640D. Processing proceeds to2675D.

At 2675D, the smoothed uncorrected position fix 2650D can beadditionally smoothed based on locally measured movement (LMM)information. The locally measured movement (LMM) information can beobtained from memory 210 at 2680D. The locally measured movement (LMM)information may be placed into memory 210 at either 2130 (FIG. 21) or2240 (FIG. 22) or both 2130 and 2240. Processing of the additionallysmoothed uncorrected position fix 2690D can proceed to 2692D.

At 2692D, the additionally smoothed uncorrected position fix 2690D canbe provided to the user. If the position fix 2662D was not smoothedbased on LMM at 2675D, then the smoothed uncorrected position fix 2662Dcan be provided to the user at 2692D. Processing proceeds back to 2605D.

At 2671D, a smoothed corrected position fix 2672D is determined based onthe smoothed corrected pseudoranges 2670D. Processing proceeds to 2685D.

At 2685D, the smoothed corrected position fix 2670D can be additionallysmoothed based on locally measured movement (LMM) information. Thelocally measured movement (LMM) information can be obtained from memory210 at 2680D. The locally measured movement (LMM) information may beplaced into memory 210 at either 2130 (FIG. 21) or 2240 (FIG. 22) orboth 2130 and 2240. Processing of the additionally smoothed correctedposition fix 2691D can proceed to 2693D.

At 2693D, the additionally smoothed corrected position fix 2691D can beprovided to the user. If the position fix 2672D was not smoothed basedon LMM information at 2685D, then the smoothed corrected position fix2662D can be provided to the user at 2693D. Processing proceeds back to2605D.

Referring to FIG. 26E, the flowchart 2600E can be performed concurrentlywith flowchart 2600D (FIG. 26D) to determine whether Doppler ShiftInformation becomes unreliable or unavailable and switch to processingraw pseudoranges without Doppler Shift Information. If enough, such as apredetermined amount, Doppler Shift Information is not obtained, thenthe already obtained Doppler Shift Information is not useful forsmoothing. If enough Doppler Shift Information is obtained, theprocessing continues with flowchart 2600D.

For example, at 2605E, a timer is reset. For example, a timer that ischecked at 2620E is reset. Processing proceeds to 2610E.

At 2610E, a determination is made as to whether Doppler ShiftInformation is available. If Doppler Shift Information is not available,then processing proceeds to flowchart 2600B on FIG. 26B. If enough, suchas a predetermined amount, Doppler Shift Information is available, thenprocessing proceeds to 2615E.

At 2615E, Doppler Shift Information is obtained and stored. For example,Doppler Shift information can continuously be extracted from the GNSSchipset 170 and stored in memory 210. Processing proceeds to 2620E.

At 2620E, a determination is made as to whether a time threshold hasexpired for obtaining Doppler Shift Information. If the time thresholdfor obtaining has not expired, then processing proceeds back to 2615Ewhere additional Doppler Shift Information is obtained and stored. Forexample, additional Doppler shift information can be extracted from theGNSS chipset 170 and stored into memory 210. If the time threshold hasexpired, then enough Doppler Shift Information has been obtained,processing proceeds from 2630E and to 2605E where the loop in flowchart2600E is reiterated.

Referring to FIG. 26F, at 2605F, Real Carrier Phase Information 2610F isobtained from memory 210. The Real Carrier Phase Information 2610F wasplaced into memory 210 at 2630A (FIG. 26A). The processing of the RealCarrier Phase Information 2610F proceeds to 2615F.

At 2615F, raw pseudoranges 2620F are obtained from memory 210. The rawpseudoranges 2620F were placed into memory 210 at 2615A (FIG. 26A). Theprocessing of the raw pseudoranges 2620F can proceed to 2625F.

At 2625F, the raw pseudoranges 2620F are smoothed using the real carrierphase information 2610F provided at 2605F. A filter 1534E (FIG. 15E) orthe hatch logic 1532E (FIG. 15E) can be used for smoothing the rawpseudoranges 2620F with the real carrier phase information 2610F at2625F. The output of 2625F is smoothed uncorrected pseudoranges 2640F.Processing of the smoothed uncorrected pseudoranges 2640F proceeds from2625F proceeds to 2645F.

At 2645F, external corrections are optionally applied to the smootheduncorrected pseudoranges 2640F. External corrections are pseudorangecorrections that can be obtained, for example, from a correction sourcesuch as at least correction service 221, FM radio distribution 226, orsatellite radio distributor 227, or a combination thereof. According toone embodiment, a correction source is located outside of the cellulardevice, and, therefore, corrections from the correction source arereferred to as “external corrections” or “external pseudorangecorrections.” Examples of external corrections include WAAS, SBAS, DGPS,PPP, RTK, VRS and RTX corrections. Processing proceeds to 2650F.

At 2650F, a determination is made as to whether external correctionswere applied at 2645F. If corrections were applied, processing of thesmoothed corrected pseudoranges 2650F proceeds from 2650F proceeds to2653F. If corrections were not applied, processing of the smootheduncorrected pseudoranges 2640F proceeds from 2650F to 2651F.

At 2651F, a smoothed uncorrected position fix 2652F is determined basedon the smoothed uncorrected pseudoranges 2640F. Processing proceeds to2655F.

At 2655F, the smoothed uncorrected position fix 2640F can beadditionally smoothed based on locally measured movement (LMM)information. The locally measured movement (LMM) information can beobtained from memory 210 at 2660F. The locally measured movement (LMM)information may be placed into memory 210 at either 2130 (FIG. 21) or2240 (FIG. 22) or both 2130 and 2240. Processing of the additionallysmoothed uncorrected position fix 2670F can proceed to 2680F.

At 2680F, the additionally smoothed uncorrected position fix 2670F canbe provided to the user. If the position fix 2652F was not smoothedbased on LMM at 2655F, then the smoothed uncorrected position fix 2652Fcan be provided to the user at 2680F. Processing proceeds back to 2605F.

At 2653F, a smoothed corrected position fix 2654F is determined based onthe smoothed corrected pseudoranges 2650F. Processing proceeds to 2665F.

At 2665F, the smoothed corrected position fix 2654F can be additionallysmoothed based on locally measured movement (LMM) information. Thelocally measured movement (LMM) information can be obtained from memory210 at 2660F. The locally measured movement (LMM) information may beplaced into memory 210 at either 2130 (FIG. 21) or 2240 (FIG. 22) orboth 2130 and 2240. Processing of the additionally smoothed correctedposition fix 2675F can proceed to 2685F.

At 2685F, the additionally smoothed corrected position fix 2675F can beprovided to the user. If the position fix 2654F is smoothed based on LMMinformation at 2665F, then the smoothed corrected position fix 2654F canbe provided to the user at 2685F. Processing proceeds back to 2605F.

Referring to FIG. 26G, the flowchart 2600G can be performed concurrentlywith flowchart 2600F (FIG. 26F) to determine whether real carrier phaseinformation becomes unreliable or unavailable and switch to processingraw pseudoranges without real carrier phase information. If enoughcarrier phase information is not obtained within a threshold of time,then the already obtained real carrier phase information is no longersufficiently useful. If enough real carrier phase information isobtained within a threshold of time, the processing continues withflowchart 2600F.

For example, at 2605G, a timer is reset. For example, a timer that ischecked at 2620G is reset. Processing proceeds to 2610G.

At 2610G, a determination is made as to whether real carrier phaseinformation is available. If real carrier phase information is notavailable, then processing proceeds to flowchart 2600B on FIG. 26B. Ifreal carrier phase information is available, then processing proceeds to2615G.

At 2615G, real carrier phase information is obtained and stored. Forexample, real carrier phase information can continuously be extractedfrom the GNSS chipset 170 and stored in memory 210. Processing proceedsto 2620G.

At 2620G, a determination is made as to whether a time threshold hasexpired for obtaining real carrier phase information. If the timethreshold for obtaining has not expired, then processing proceeds backto 2615G where additional real carrier phase information is obtained andstored. For example, real carrier phase information can continuously beextracted from the GNSS chipset 170 and stored in memory 210. If thetime threshold has expired, then enough real carrier phase informationhas been obtained and processing proceeds to 2630G and to 2605G wherethe loop in flowchart 2600G is reiterated.

Various operations refer to obtaining raw observables, such as extractedraw pseudoranges, real carrier phase information, and Doppler Shiftinformation, from memory 210. The raw observables may be obtained frommemory 210 using a push method or pull method. The pull method is alsoreferred to as “fetch.”

The control logic 1520A (FIG. 15A) is responsible for directlyperforming the processing of flowcharts 14, 20-26G or indirectlycoordinating the processing of flowcharts 14, 20-26G, according tovarious embodiments. An example of direct is when the control logic1520A performs the processing itself. An example of indirect is when thecontrol logic 1520A calls another entity to perform the processing. Thecontrol logic 1520A can call any one or more entities associated with acellular device to perform the processing of flowcharts 14, 20A-26Gindirectly. For example, the control logic 1520A may call at least oneor more of the following to perform processing of flowcharts 14, 20-26Gindirectly:

(1) pseudorange information extractor 142 to obtain and store rawpseudoranges, for example, at 2520 (FIG. 25), 1413 (FIG. 14), 2515A(FIG. 26A);

(2) accessing logic 1510A, 110B to extract and store information such asreal carrier phase information, for example, at 2530 (FIG. 25), 2620C(FIG. 26C), 2615G (FIG. 26G), 1416 (FIG. 14), 2630A (FIG. 26A), DopplerShift Information, for example, at 2530 (FIG. 25), 1418 (FIG. 14), 2635a (FIG. 26A), 2625C (FIG. 26C), 2615E (FIG. 26E), or externalcorrections, for example, at 2540 (FIG. 25), 1424 (FIG. 14), 2625B (FIG.26B), 2655D (FIG. 26D), 2645F (FIG. 26F);

(3) carrier phase measurement extracting logic 112B-4 to obtain andstore real carrier phase information, for example, at 2530 (FIG. 25),2620C (FIG. 26C), 2615G (FIG. 26G), 1416 (FIG. 14), 2630A (FIG. 26A);

(4) doppler-e-logic 112B-3 to obtain and store Doppler ShiftInformation, for example, at 2530 (FIG. 25), 1418 (FIG. 14), 2635A (FIG.26A), 2625C (FIG. 26C), 2615E (FIG. 26E);

(5) locally measured movement information accessing logic 1510B toobtain and store locally managed measurement (LMM) information, forexample, at 2130 (FIG. 21), 2240 (FIG. 22);

(6) carrier phase reconstructing logic 1520C to reconstruct carrierphase information based on Doppler Shift Information, for example, at1427 (FIG. 14), 2615D (FIG. 26D);

(7) real carrier phase logic 152B to perform smoothing based on realcarrier phase information, for example, at 2530 (FIG. 25), 1428 (FIG.14), 2625F (FIG. 26F);

(8) reconstructed carrier phase logic 152B to perform smoothing based onreconstructed Doppler Shift Information, for example, at 2530 (FIG. 25),1421 (FIG. 14), 2635 (FIG. 26D);

(9) movement sensor position fix smoothing logic 1510C to performsmoothing based on LMM information, for example, at 2560 (FIG. 25), 1425(FIG. 14), 2645B (FIG. 26B), 2650B (FIG. 26B), 2675D (FIG. 26D), 2685D(FIG. 26D), 2655F (FIG. 26F), 2665F (FIG. 26F);

(10) determining position fix logic 170B to determine position fixesbased on inputs, such as raw pseudoranges, smoothed pseudoranges,smoothed corrected pseudoranges, smoothed uncorrected pseudoranges, forexample, at 2550 (FIG. 25), 1423 (FIG. 14), 2631B (FIG. 26B), 2641B(FIG. 26B), 2661 d (FIG. 26D), 2671D (FIG. 26D), 2651F (FIG. 26F), 2653F(FIG. 26F). The determining position fix logic 170B can perform a leastsquares error system to calculate the position fix;

(11) correction-logic 151 to apply external corrections, for example, at2540 (FIG. 25), 1424 (FIG. 14), 2625B (FIG. 26B), 2655D (FIG. 26D),2645F (FIG. 26F);

(12) accessing logic 1510A, 110B;

(13) processing logic 1550A, 150; and

(14) chipset accessor 141.

Referring to FIGS. 14, 21 and 22, according to various embodiments,different processes 1-6 can execute the following:

-   -   Process 1 for continuously extracting and storing raw        pseudoranges. For example, process 1 could include operations        1411, 1412 and 1413,    -   Process 2 for processing when neither real carrier phase        information nor reconstructed carrier phase information is        available. For example, process 2 could include operations 1416,        1418, 1424, 1423, 1425, 1426,    -   Process 3 for processing when real carrier phase information is        available. The real carrier phase information can be        continuously obtained and stored into memory 210. The process 3        could include operations 1416, 1415, 1428, 1424, 1423, 1425,        1426,    -   Process 4 for processing when Doppler Shift Information is        available. The Doppler Shift information can be continuously        obtained and stored into memory 210. The process 4 could include        operations 1418, 1417, 1427, 1421, 1424, 1423, 1425, and 1426,    -   Process 5 for continuously accessing and storing into memory 210        locally measured movement information from an ICD and handling        ICD limiting factor. For example, process 5 could include        operations 2120, 2125, 2130 and 2140 (FIG. 21), and    -   Process 6 for continuously accessing and storing into memory 210        locally measured movement information from an accelerometer and        handling accelerometer limiting factor. For example, process 6        could include operations 2220, 2230, 2240, 2250, and 2270.

According to various embodiments, two or more of processes 1-6 areexecuted concurrently. According to various embodiments, process 1 andone or more of processes 2-6 are executed concurrently. One or morehardware processors 109 can be used for executing one or more ofprocesses 1-6.

Referring to FIGS. 14, 21, and 22, examples of combinations of processesthat could be executed concurrently include at least:

-   -   Combination 1: processes 1, 2, 3, and 5 or 6,    -   Combination 2: processes 1, 2, 4, 5 and 6    -   Combination 3: processes 1, 2, 3, and 5 or 6,    -   Combination 4: processes 1, 2, 4, 5 and 6,    -   Combination 5: processes 1 and 5,    -   Combination 6: process 1 and 6,    -   Combination 7: process 1, 5 and 6,    -   Combination 8: process 1, 2 and 3,    -   Combination 9: process 1, 2 and 4.

Referring to FIGS. 21, 22, 26A-26G, according to various embodiments,different processes 1-6 can execute the following:

-   -   Process 1 for continuously extracting and storing raw        pseudoranges into memory 210. For example, process 1 can include        loop 2660A that is executed continuously,    -   Process 2 for processing when neither real carrier phase        information nor reconstructed carrier phase information is        available. According to one embodiment, process 2 may include a        process pair 2A and 2B. For example, process 2A may include        flowchart 2600B and process 2B may include flowchart 2600C,    -   Process 3 for processing when real carrier phase information is        available. According to one embodiment, process 3 may include a        process pair 3a and 3b. Process 3a may include operations 2620A,        2630A, 2640A, flowcharts 2600F for real carrier phase        information. Process 3b may include flowchart 2600G,    -   Process 4 for processing when Doppler Shift Information is        available. According to one embodiment, process 4 includes a        process pair 4a and 4B. Process 4A may include operations 2625A,        2635A, 2645A, flowchart 2600D for Doppler Shift Information.        Process 4B may include flowchart 2600E,    -   Process 5 for accessing and storing locally measured movement        information from an ICD and handling ICD limiting factor. For        example, process 5 could include operations 2120, 2125, 2130 and        2140 (FIG. 21), and    -   Process 6 for accessing and storing locally measured movement        information from an accelerometer and handling accelerometer        limiting factor. For example, process 6 could include operations        2220, 2230, 2240, 2250, and 2270.

According to one embodiment, processes 2A and 2B are executedconcurrently. According to one embodiment, processes 3A and 3B areexecuted concurrently. According to one embodiment, processes 4A and 4Bare executed concurrently. According to various embodiments, two or moreof processes 1-6 are executed concurrently. According to variousembodiments, process 1 and one or more of processes 2-6 are executedconcurrently. One or more hardware processors 109 can be used forexecuting one or more of processes 1-6.

Referring to FIGS. 21, 22, 26A-26G, examples of combinations ofprocesses that could be executed concurrently include at least:

-   -   Combination 1: processes 1, 2A, 2B, 3A, 3B, and 5 or 6,    -   Combination 2: processes 1, 2A, 2B, 4A, 4B, 5 and 6    -   Combination 3: processes 1, 2A, 2B, 3A, 3B, and 5 or 6,    -   Combination 4: processes 1, 2A, 2B, 4A, 4B, 5 and 6,    -   Combination 5: processes 1 and 5,    -   Combination 6: process 1 and 6,    -   Combination 7: process 1, 5 and 6,    -   Combination 8: process 1, 2A, 2B, 3A, and 3B,    -   Combination 9: process 1, 2A, 2B, 4A, and 4B.

According to one embodiment, different continuously executing concurrentprocesses can be used for obtaining and storing various types ofinformation. For example, a continuously executing process could be usedfor extracting raw pseudoranges and storing raw pseudoranges into memory210. Another continuously executing process could be used for obtainingand storing into memory 210 real carrier phase information. Yet anothercontinuously executing process could be used for obtaining and storinginto memory 210 Doppler Shift Information. Yet still anothercontinuously executing process could be used for obtaining and storinginto memory LMM information from an accelerator. Yet still anothercontinuously executing process could be used for obtaining and storinginto memory 210, LMM information from an image capturing device. Yet oneor more additional processes could be used to fetch or receive pushedinformation, such as extracted raw pseudorange information, real carrierphase information, Doppler Shift Information, and/or real carrier phaseinformation to perform various types of processing, such as smoothingbased on carrier phase information, reconstruct carrier phaseinformation, apply external corrections, perform additional smoothingbased on LMM information, performing decision logic, such as determiningwhether limiting factors have been exceeded, determining whether rawobservables are available in sufficient amounts, and so on.

A combination of processes could be used for an entire work session,according to one embodiment. An example of a work session could be aperiod of time that the cellular device is being used to survey an area.Different combinations could be used during different subsets of a worksession, according to another embodiment. For example, one combinationcould be used while the cellular device is unobstructed and capable ofobtaining good signals and another combination could be used while thecellular device is obstructed. In another example, one combination couldbe used while both the accelerometer and the ICD are turned on andanother combination could be used when one of the sensors becomesunavailable. These are just a few examples. Embodiments are well suitedfor other examples.

FIGS. 27A-27C are example timelines that demonstrate techniques forusing various combinations of sensors and/or carrier phase smoothingconcurrently over time for improving position determination of acellular device using locally measured movement information, accordingto various embodiments.

The timelines depicted in FIGS. 27A-27C shall be discussed in thecontext of FIGS. 20A-26C.

Referring to timeline 2701 on FIG. 27A, an accelerometer (acc) and nocarrier phase smoothing is used for improving position determination ofa cellular device using locally measured movement information. Forexample, LMM information can be obtained from only an accelerometer(2460 on FIG. 24A) and no carrier phase smoothing (A in FIG. 26A) may beperformed. The accelerometer is used for the time periods of t0-t1,t2-t5, t6-t7 to obtain movement information (2050A at FIGS. 20A and 2240at FIG. 22) and to improve position determination (2060A at FIG. 20A,2570 at FIG. 25, 1420 at FIG. 14, 2260 at FIG. 22, 2600B at FIG. 26B).The accelerometer's limiting factor(s) is exceeded (2250 at FIG. 22) att1, t3, t4, t5 and t7. The accelerometer is reset (2230 at FIG. 22) attimes t0, t2, t3, t4 and t6. The accelerometer is not used during thetime periods of t1-t2 and t5-t6.

Referring to timeline 2702 on FIG. 27A, the image capturing device (ICD)and no carrier phase smoothing is used for improving positiondetermination of a cellular device using locally measured movementinformation. For example, LMM information is obtained from only theimage capturing device (2470 on FIG. 24A) and no carrier phase smoothingis performed (A on FIG. 26A). The image capturing device is used for thetime periods of t0-t1, t1-t2 and t3-t4 to obtain movement information(2130 at FIG. 21) and to improve position determination (2150 at FIG.21, 2570 at FIG. 25, 1420 at FIG. 14, 2600B at FIG. 26B). The imagecapturing device's limiting factor(s) is exceeded (2140 at FIG. 21) att1, t2 and t4. The image capturing device is reset (2125 at FIG. 21) attimes t0, t1, and t3. The image capturing device is not used during thetime period of t2-t3.

Referring to timeline 2703 of FIG. 27B, the accelerometer (acc), theimage capturing device (ICD) and no carrier phase smoothing are used forimproving position determination of a cellular device using locallymeasured movement information. For example, locally measured movementinformation from both the accelerometer and the image capturing device(2450 on FIG. 24A) with no carrier phase information (A on FIG. 26A) isused. The accelerometer is used for the time periods of t0-t1, t1-t2,t3-t6, t7-t8 and t8-t9 to obtain movement information (2240 at FIG. 22)and to improve position determination (2060A at FIG. 20A, 2570 at FIG.25, 1420 at FIG. 14, 2260 at FIG. 22, 2600B at FIG. 26B). Theaccelerometer's limiting factor(s) is exceeded (2250 at FIG. 22) at t1,t2, t6, t8 and t9. The accelerometer is reset at times t0, t1, t3, t7and t8.

The image capturing device is used for the time periods of t0-t4 andt5-t9 to obtain movement information (2130 at FIG. 21) and to improveposition determination (2150 at FIG. 21, 2570 at FIG. 25, 1420 at FIG.14, 2600B at FIG. 26B). The image capturing device's limiting factor(s)is exceeded (2140 at FIG. 21) at t4 and t9. The image capturing deviceis reset (2125 at FIG. 21) at times t0 and t5.

The use of the accelerometer and the image capturing device overlap forthe time periods of t0-t2, t3-t4, t5-t6, and t7-t9. The accelerometeronly is used from time t4-t5. Embodiments are well suited for periods oftime when the image capturing device only is used for periods of time aswell.

According to various embodiments, carrier phase smoothing, real orreconstructed, is not used immediately because it takes some time forcarrier phase smoothing information with sufficient quality to beobtained. For example, it may take several 100s of seconds before thecarrier phase smoothing information is useful. Therefore, according tovarious embodiments, one or more sensors may be used without carrierphase smoothing until the carrier phase smoothing information becomesuseful.

Referring to timeline 2704 on FIG. 27A, an accelerometer (acc) andcarrier phase smoothing (CPS) is used for improving positiondetermination of a cellular device using locally measured movementinformation. For example, locally measured movement information fromonly the accelerometer (2460 on FIG. 24A) and carrier phase information(2620A or 2625A on FIG. 26A) are used. The carrier phase smoothing maybe based on either reconstructed or real carrier phase information. Asdepicted in timeline 2704, the accelerometer is used for the timeperiods of t0-t1, t1-t2, t3-t4, t6-t7 and t8-t9 to obtain movementinformation (2240 at FIG. 22) and to improve position determination(2060A at FIG. 20A, 2570 at FIG. 25, 1420 at FIG. 14, 2260 at FIG. 22,either 2600D on FIG. 26D or 2600F on FIG. 26F). The accelerometer'slimiting factor(s) is exceeded (2250 on FIG. 22) at t1, t2, t4, t7 andt9. The accelerometer is reset (2230 at FIG. 22) at times t0, t1, t3, t6and t8. Carrier phase smoothing is used from time t5 on. The use of theaccelerometer and carrier phase smoothing overlap during the timeperiods of t6-t7 and t8-t9. The accelerometer alone is used for the timeperiods of t0-t2 and t3-t4. Carrier phase smoothing alone is used forthe time periods of t5-t6, t7-t8 and t9. No improvements are used fromeither the accelerometer or carrier phase smoothing during the timeperiods of t2-t3 and t4-t5.

Referring to timeline 2705 of FIG. 27C, the image capturing device (ICD)and carrier phase smoothing (CPS) are used for improving positiondetermination of a cellular device using locally measured movementinformation. For example, locally measured movement information fromonly an ICD (2470 on FIG. 24A) and carrier phase information (either2620A or 2625A on FIG. 26A) are used. As depicted in timeline 2705, theimage capturing device is used for the time periods of t0-t1, t2-t3,t3-t4, t6-t7, t8-t9 and t10-t11 to obtain movement information (2130 atFIG. 21) and to improve position determination (2150 at FIG. 21, 2570 atFIG. 25, 1420 at FIG. 14, either 2600D or 2600F). The image capturingdevice's limiting factor(s) is exceeded (2140 at FIG. 21) at t1, t3, t4,t7, t9, and t11. The image capturing device is reset (2125 at FIG. 21)at times t0, t2, t3, t6, t8, and t10.

Carrier phase smoothing is used from time t5-t12. The use of the imagecapturing device and carrier phase smoothing overlap during the timeperiods of t6-t7, t8-t9 and t10-t11. In this illustration, carrier phasesmoothing alone is used during the periods of t5-t6, t7-t8, t9-t10,t11-t12. Neither the image capturing device nor carrier phase smoothingis used during the period of t1-t2 and t4-t5.

Referring to timeline 2706 of FIG. 27C, the accelerometer (acc), theimage capturing device (ICD) and carrier phase smoothing (CSP) are usedfor improving position determination of a cellular device using locallymeasured movement information. For example, locally measured movementinformation from both an accelerometer and an image capturing device(2450 on FIG. 24A) and carrier phase information (either 2620A or 2625Aon FIG. 26A) are used. As depicted in timeline 2706, the accelerometeris used for the time periods of t1-t2, t3-t4, t5-t6, t8-t9, t10-t11,t14-t15, t16-t17, t19-t21, t21-t22, t23-t24, t27-t28 to obtain movementinformation (2240 at FIG. 22) and improve position determination (2060Aat FIG. 20A, 2570 at FIG. 25, 1420 at FIG. 14, 2260 at FIG. 22, either2600D on FIG. 26D or 2600F on FIG. 26F). The accelerometer's limitingfactor(s) is exceeded (2250 at FIG. 22) at t2, t4, t6, t9, t11, t15,t17, t21, t22, t24, t28. The accelerometer is reset (2125 at FIG. 21) attimes t1, t3, t5, t8, t10, t14, t16, t19, t21, t23 and t27.

The image capturing device is used for the time periods of t0-t7, t7-t12t13-t18, t20-t25, t26-t28 to obtain movement information (2130 at FIG.21) and to improve position determination (2150 at FIG. 21, 2570 at FIG.25, 1420 at FIG. 14, either 2600D or 2600F). The image capturingdevice's limiting factor(s) is exceeded (2140 at FIG. 21) at t7, t12,t18, t25 and t28. The image capturing device is reset (2125 at FIG. 21)at times t0, t7, t13, t20, t26. Carrier phase smoothing is used fromtime t17 on.

The image capturing device alone is used for the time periods of t0-t1,t2-t3, t4-t5, t6-t8, t9-t10, t11-t12, t13-t14, t15-t16. Theaccelerometer and the image capturing device are used together duringthe time periods of t1-t2, t3-t4, t5-t6, t8-t9, t10-t11, t14-t15,t16-t17. Carrier phase smoothing and the image capturing device withoutthe accelerometer are used during the periods of t17-t18, t24-t25 andt26-t27.

Carrier phase smoothing and the accelerometer without the imagecapturing device are used during the period of t19-t20. The use of theimage capturing device, the accelerometer and carrier phase smoothingoverlap during the periods of t20-t22, t23-t24 and t27-t28. Carrierphase smoothing alone is used during the periods of t18-t19 and t25-t26.

Any one or more of the operations depicted in flowcharts 1400,1900-2600G can be performed by the hardware processor 109 that islocated in the cellular device 1500A, 1500J, 1600, 1700 and outside ofthe GNSS chipset 170 embedded in the cellular device.

According to various embodiments, the applying of LMM information toposition fixes is performed automatically and on the fly.

According to one embodiment, a method of improving positiondetermination of a cellular device 1500A, 1500J, 1600, 1700 usinglocally measured movement is provided. For example, a Global NavigationSatellite System (GNSS) chipset 170 embedded within the cellular device1500A, 1500J, 1600, 1700 is accessed where the GNSS chipset 170calculates raw pseudoranges. The raw pseudoranges are extracted from theGNSS chipset 170 for processing elsewhere in the cellular device 1500A,1500J, 1600, 1700 outside of the GNSS chipset 170. A position fix iscalculated (2040A, FIG. 20A) based on the raw pseudoranges. At a firstpoint in time, a first image is obtained with an image capturing devicethat is in a known physical relationship with the cellular device. At asecond point in time, a second image is obtained with the imagecapturing device 1540G. Examples of a first point in time could be anypoint in time depicted in FIGS. 27A-27C that the image capturing device1540G (ICD) is being used. Examples of a second point in time could beany point in time depicted in FIGS. 27A-27C that is subsequent to thefirst point in time. An estimate of a distance that the cellular device1500A, 1500J, 1600, 1700 moved from the first point in time to thesecond point in time is calculated by processing image data collectedfor the time frame from the first time to the second time. Variousembodiments described herein, provide for processing the position fixbased on the estimate of the distance. he accessing, the extracting, thecalculating of the position fix, the obtaining the first image, theobtaining the second image, the calculating of the estimate, and theprocessing of the position fix are performed by one or more hardwareprocessors 109 located in the cellular device and outside of the GNSSchipset 170.

According to various embodiments, the calculating of the estimate of thedistance that the cellular device moved from the first point in time tothe second point in time by processing image data collected for the timeframe from the first point in time to the second point in time furthercomprises replacing a set of image data related to at least fivekey-points included in the first image related to at least five samekey-points included in the second image.

According to various embodiments, the obtaining, at the first point intime, of the first image with the image capturing device furthercomprises calibrating the image capturing device to correct the imagefor lens distortion, the lens distortion selected from a groupconsisting of a principal distance distortion, a focal length, aprincipal point offset, a radial distortion, and a tangentialdistortion.

According to various embodiments, the position fix is a current positionfix of the cellular device and wherein the method further comprises:obtaining a set of images 1 to n using the image capturing device fromat least the first point in time to the second point in time, each imageof the set of images 1 to n includes a set of image data and images 1 ton−1 has at least one respective subsequent image and images 2 to n hasat least one respective previous image; calculating position fixestimates of positions of the cellular device between the first point intime and the second point in time by replacing a set of image dataincluded in an image with a set of image data included in a respectivesubsequent image; determining a previous position fix, based on previousraw pseudoranges, wherein the previous position fix correlates with aposition of the cellular device at a time that is less than or equal tothe second point in time; and determining the estimate of the distancebased on the previous position fix and at least one of the position fixestimates.

According to various embodiments, the method further comprisescollecting position fixes from the first point in time to the secondpoint in time; collecting synchronized video that includes a pluralityof images from the first point in time to the second point time;initializing an image processing algorithm; locating correspondences;performing sequential rolling bundle adjustment; adding new locallymeasured movement information from new images and the new images aretaken with the cellular device; and adding new position fixes based onthe new measurements, where the collecting of position fixes, thecollecting of synchronized video, the initializing of the imageprocessing algorithm, the locating of correspondences, the performing ofthe sequential rolling bundle adjustment, the adding of new locallymeasured movement information and the adding of new position fixes areperformed by the one or more hardware processors.

According to various embodiments, at the first point in time, firstaccelerometer data is obtained from an accelerometer 1502A that is partof the cellular device 1500A, 1500J, 1600, 1700. At the second point intime, second accelerometer data is obtained from the accelerometer1502A. A second estimate of the distance is calculated based on thefirst accelerometer data and the second accelerometer data. A thirdestimate is determined by blending the first estimate and the secondestimate using any type of filter described herein. The obtaining of thefirst accelerometer data, the obtaining of the second accelerometerdata, the calculating of the second estimate and the determining of thethird estimate are performed by the one or more hardware processors 109.

According to one embodiment, a previous position fix of the cellulardevice 1500A, 1500J, 1600, 1700 is determined for the first point intime based on previous raw pseudoranges and a current position fix isdetermined for the second point in time based on current rawpseudoranges. Referring to FIG. 18E, P7 is an example of a previousposition fix and P8 is an example of a current position fix. Stillreferring to FIG. 18E, a position fix distance ΔP₈₇ is determined thatis the difference between the current position fix P8 and the previousposition fix P7. A second difference ΔP is determined between theestimate of the distance D8 and the position fix distance ΔP₈₇. If thesecond difference ΔP exceeds a metric threshold 1820E, the currentposition fix P8 is discarded. The extracting of the previous rawpseudoranges, the determining of the previous position fix, thedetermining of the position fix distance, the determining of the seconddifference and the discarding of the current position fix are performedby the one or more hardware processors 109. Still referring to FIG. 18E,a trajectory of movement of the cellular device 1500A, 1500J, 1600, 1700is determined based on two or more position fixes P(ti−2), P(ti−1),which are previous to the current position fix P8, of the cellulardevice. A new position fix P_(EST)(ti) is interpolated based on theestimate of the distance D8 and the trajectory.

FIGS. 14, 19-26G depict flowcharts 1400, 1900-2600G, according to oneembodiment. Although specific operations are disclosed in flowcharts1400, 1900-2600G, such operations are exemplary. That is, embodiments ofthe present invention are well suited to performing various otheroperations or variations of the operations recited in flowcharts 1400,1900-2600G. It is appreciated that the operations in flowcharts 1400,1900-2600G may be performed in an order different than presented, andthat not all of the operations in flowcharts 1400, 1900-2600G may beperformed.

The operations depicted in FIGS. 14, 19-26G transform data or modifydata to transform the state of a cellular device 1500A, 1500J, 1600,1700. For example, by extracting pseudorange information from a GNSSchipset 170 for use elsewhere, the state of the cellular device 1500A,1500J, 1600, 1700 is transformed, for example, from a cellular devicethat is not capable of determining a position fix itself into a cellulardevice that is capable of determining a position fix itself. In anotherexample, operations depicted in flowcharts 1400, 1500J, 1900-2600Gtransform the state of a cellular device 1500A, 1500J, 1600, 1700 fromnot being capable of providing an improved accuracy position fix 1560Cto being capable of providing an improved accuracy position fix 1560C.

The above illustration is only provided by way of example and not by wayof limitation. There are other ways of performing the method describedby flowcharts 1400, 1900-2600G.

Computer Readable Storage Medium

Unless otherwise specified, any one or more of the embodiments describedherein can be implemented using non-transitory computer readable storagemedium and computer readable instructions which reside, for example, incomputer-readable storage medium of a computer system or like device.The non-transitory computer readable storage medium can be any kind ofphysical memory that instructions can be stored on. Examples of thenon-transitory computer readable storage medium include but are notlimited to a disk, a compact disk (CD), a digital versatile device(DVD), read only memory (ROM), flash, and so on. As described above,certain processes and operations of various embodiments of the presentinvention are realized, in one embodiment, as a series of computerreadable instructions (e.g., software program) that reside withinnon-transitory computer readable storage memory of a cellular device1500A, 1500J, 1600, 1700 (FIGS. 15A-17) and are executed by a hardwareprocessor of the cellular device 1500A, 1500J, 1600, 1700. Whenexecuted, the instructions cause a computer system to implement thefunctionality of various embodiments of the present invention. Forexample, the instructions can be executed by a central processing unit109 associated with the cellular device 1500A, 1500J, 1600, 1700.According to one embodiment, the non-transitory computer readablestorage medium is tangible. Instructions for any one or more of theoperations depicted in or described in the context of FIGS. 14-33 couldbe stored in the non-transitory computer readable storage medium.

Unless otherwise specified, one or more of the various embodimentsdescribed herein can be implemented as hardware, such as circuitry,firmware, or computer readable instructions that are stored onnon-transitory computer readable storage medium. The computer readableinstructions of the various embodiments described herein can be executedby a hardware processor, such as central processing unit, to cause thecellular device 1500A, 1500J, 1600, 1700 to implement the functionalityof various embodiments. For example, according to one embodiment, theSUPL client 1501A and the operations depicted or described in thecontext of FIG. 14-33 are implemented with computer readableinstructions that are stored on computer readable storage medium, whichcan be tangible or non-transitory or a combination thereof, and can beexecuted by a hardware processor 109 of a cellular device 1500A, 1500J,1600, 1700.

CONCLUSION

Example embodiments of the subject matter are thus described. Althoughthe subject matter has been described in a language specific tostructural features and/or methodological acts, it is to be understoodthat the subject matter defined in the appended claims is notnecessarily limited to the specific features or acts described above.Rather, the specific features and acts described above are disclosed asexample forms of implementing the claims.

Various embodiments have been described in various combinations andillustrations. However, any two or more embodiments or features may becombined. Further, any embodiment or feature may be used separately fromany other embodiment or feature. Phrases, such as “an embodiment,” “oneembodiment,” among others, used herein, are not necessarily referring tothe same embodiment. Features, structures, or characteristics of anyembodiment may be combined in any suitable manner with one or more otherfeatures, structures, or characteristics.

What is claimed is:
 1. A method of improving position determination of acellular device using carrier phase smoothing, the method comprising:accessing a Global Navigation Satellite System (GNSS) chipset embeddedwithin the cellular device, wherein the GNSS chipset calculates rawobservables that include raw pseudoranges and carrier phase information;extracting the raw observables from the GNSS chipset for processingelsewhere in the cellular device outside of the GNSS chipset; andproviding smoothed pseudoranges by smoothing the raw pseudoranges basedon the carrier phase information, wherein the accessing, the extractingand the providing are performed by one or more hardware processorslocated in the cellular device and outside of the GNSS chipset.
 2. Themethod of claim 1, wherein the method further comprises: providingunsmoothed corrected pseudoranges by applying external corrections tothe raw pseudoranges, wherein the external corrections are from acorrection source that is external to the cellular device; anddetermining a unsmoothed corrected position fix based on the unsmoothedcorrected pseudoranges.
 3. The method of claim 2, wherein the methodfurther comprises: obtaining locally measured cellular device movementinformation from at least one sensor that is in a known physicalrelationship with the cellular device; and providing a smoothedcorrected position fix by applying the locally measured cellular devicemovement information to the unsmoothed corrected position fix.
 4. Themethod of claim 1, wherein the carrier phase information is DopplerShift Information and wherein the method further comprises: providingreconstructed carrier phase information by reconstructing carrier phaseinformation based on the Doppler Shift Information, wherein thereconstructing is performed by the one or more processors located in thecellular device and outside of the GNSS chipset.
 5. The method of claim4, wherein the method further comprises: providing smoothed uncorrectedpseudoranges by smoothing the raw pseudoranges based on thereconstructed carrier phase information.
 6. The method of claim 5,wherein the method further comprises: providing smoothed correctedpseudoranges by applying external corrections to the smootheduncorrected pseudoranges; and determining a smoothed corrected positionfix based on the smoothed corrected pseudoranges.
 7. The method of claim6, wherein the method further comprises: obtaining locally measuredcellular device movement information from at least one sensor that is ina known physical relationship with the cellular device; and providingadditional smoothing to the smoothed corrected position fix based on thelocally measured cellular device movement information.
 8. The method ofclaim 7, wherein the method further comprises: providing the additionalsmoothing to the smoothed corrected position fix based on the locallymeasured cellular device movement information using a filter.
 9. Themethod of claim 5, wherein the method further comprises: determining asmoothed uncorrected position fix based on the smoothed uncorrectedpseudoranges.
 10. The method of claim 9, wherein the method furthercomprises: obtaining locally measured cellular device movementinformation from at least one sensor that is in a known physicalrelationship with the cellular device; and providing additionalsmoothing to the smoothed uncorrected position fix based on the locallymeasured cellular device movement information.
 11. The method of claim1, wherein the carrier phase information is real carrier phaseinformation and wherein the method further comprises: providing smootheduncorrected pseudoranges by applying the real carrier phase informationto the raw pseudoranges.
 12. The method of claim 11, further comprising:providing smoothed corrected pseudoranges by applying externalcorrections to the smoothed uncorrected pseudoranges, wherein theexternal corrections are from a correction source that is external tothe cellular device.
 13. The method of claim 12, wherein the methodfurther comprises: determining a smoothed corrected position fix basedon the smoothed corrected pseudoranges.
 14. The method of claim 13,wherein the method further comprises: obtaining locally measuredcellular device movement information from at least one sensor that is ina known physical relationship with the cellular device; and providingadditional smoothing to the smoothed corrected position fix based on thelocally measured cellular device movement information.
 15. The method ofclaim 11, further comprising: determining a smoothed uncorrectedposition fix based on the smoothed uncorrected pseudoranges.
 16. Themethod of claim 11, further comprising: obtaining locally measuredcellular device movement information from at least one sensor that is ina known physical relationship with the cellular device; and providingadditional smoothing to the smoothed uncorrected pseudoranges based onthe locally measured cellular device movement information.
 17. Themethod as recited by claim 11, wherein the method further comprises:providing the smoothed pseudoranges by applying the real carrier phaseinformation to the raw pseudoranges using a filter.
 18. A system forimproving position determination of a cellular device using carrierphase smoothing, the system comprising one or more hardware processorslocated in the cellular device and outside of a Global NavigationSatellite System (GNSS) chipset embedded within the cellular device;accessing logic that accesses the Global Navigation Satellite System(GNSS) chipset embedded within the cellular device, wherein the GNSSchipset calculates raw observables that include raw pseudoranges andcarrier phase information; extracting logic that extracts the rawobservables from the GNSS chipset for processing elsewhere in thecellular device outside of the GNSS chipset; and processing logic thatcreates smoothed pseudoranges by smoothing the raw pseudoranges based onthe carrier phase information, wherein the accessing logic, theextracting logic, and the processing logic are executed by the one ormore processors.
 19. The system of claim 18, wherein the carrier phaseinformation is Doppler Shift Information and wherein the system furthercomprises carrier phase reconstructing logic that provides reconstructedcarrier phase information by reconstructing carrier phase informationbased on the Doppler Shift Information.
 20. The system of claim 19,wherein the system further comprises raw pseudorange smoothing based oncarrier phase information (CPI) logic that provides smoothed uncorrectedpseudoranges by smoothing the raw pseudoranges based on thereconstructed carrier phase information.
 21. The system of claim 20,wherein the system further comprises: correction logic that providessmoothed corrected pseudoranges by applying external corrections to thesmoothed uncorrected pseudoranges, wherein the external corrections arefrom a correction source that is external to the cellular device; anddetermining position fix logic that determines a smoothed correctedposition fix based on the smoothed corrected pseudoranges.
 22. Thesystem of claim 21, wherein the system further comprises: locallymeasured movement information accessing logic that obtains locallymeasured cellular device movement information from at least one sensorthat is in a known physical relationship with the cellular device; andmovement sensor position fix smoothing logic that provides additionalsmoothing to the smoothed corrected position fix based on the locallymeasured cellular device movement information.
 23. The system of claim22, wherein the movement sensor position fix smoothing logic is afilter.
 24. The system of claim 20, wherein the system furthercomprises: determining position fix logic that determines a smootheduncorrected position fix based on the smoothed uncorrected pseudoranges.25. The system of claim 18, wherein the raw observables includes realcarrier phase information and wherein the system further comprising:real carrier phase logic that provides smoothed uncorrected pseudorangesby applying the real carrier phase information to the raw pseudoranges.26. The system of claim 25, further comprising: correction logic thatprovides smoothed corrected pseudoranges by applying externalcorrections to the smoothed uncorrected pseudoranges, wherein theexternal corrections are from a correction source that is external tothe cellular device.
 27. The system of claim 26, wherein the systemfurther comprises: determining position fix logic that determines asmoothed corrected position fix based on the smoothed correctedpseudoranges.
 28. The system of claim 25, further comprising:determining position fix logic that determines a smoothed uncorrectedposition fix based on the smoothed uncorrected pseudoranges.
 29. Thesystem as recited by claim 25, wherein the real carrier phase logic is afilter.
 30. The system as recited by claim 18, wherein the processinglogic that provides provided pseudoranges that is one of smootheduncorrected pseudoranges, smoothed corrected pseudoranges, unsmoothedcorrected pseudoranges, and raw pseudoranges and wherein the systemfurther comprises: position determination logic that determines aposition fix based on the provided pseudoranges; at least one sensorthat is in a known physical relationship with the cellular device;locally measured movement information accessing logic that obtainslocally measured cellular device movement information from the at leastone sensor; and the processing logic further comprises logic thatprocesses the position fix based on the locally measured cellular devicemovement information.
 31. The system of claim 18, wherein the cellulardevice comprises a cellular communication enabled mobile communicationsdevice.
 32. A non-transitory computer readable storage medium havingcomputer readable instructions stored thereon for causing a computersystem to perform a method of improving position determination of acellular device using carrier phase smoothing, the method comprising:accessing a Global Navigation Satellite System (GNSS) chipset embeddedwithin the cellular device, wherein the GNSS chipset calculates rawobservables that include raw pseudoranges and carrier phase information;extracting the raw observables from the GNSS chipset for processingelsewhere in the cellular device outside of the GNSS chipset; andproviding smoothed pseudoranges by smoothing the raw pseudoranges basedon the carrier phase information, wherein the accessing, the extractingand the providing are performed by one or more hardware processorslocated in the cellular device and outside of the GNSS chipset.
 33. Thenon-transitory computer readable storage medium of claim 32, wherein theposition fix is a locally measured movement smoothed position fix andthe method further comprises: determining smoothed pseudoranges byapplying carrier phase information to the raw pseudoranges; anddetermining a carrier phase smoothed position fix based on the smoothedpseudoranges.
 34. The non-transitory computer readable storage medium ofclaim 32, wherein the method further comprises: providing unsmoothedcorrected pseudoranges by applying external corrections to the rawpseudoranges; and determining a unsmoothed corrected position fix basedon the unsmoothed corrected pseudoranges.
 35. The non-transitorycomputer readable storage medium of claim 32, wherein the smoothedpseudoranges are smoothed uncorrected pseudoranges and wherein themethod further comprises: providing smoothed corrected pseudoranges byapplying external corrections to the smoothed uncorrected pseudoranges,wherein the external corrections are from a correction source that isexternal to the cellular device; and determining a smoothed correctedposition fix based on the smoothed corrected pseudoranges.
 36. Thenon-transitory computer readable storage medium of claim 32, wherein thecarrier phase information is Doppler Shift Information and wherein themethod further comprises: providing reconstructed carrier phaseinformation by reconstructing carrier phase information based on theDoppler Shift Information.
 37. The non-transitory computer readablestorage medium of claim 36, wherein the method further comprises:providing smoothed uncorrected pseudoranges by smoothing the rawpseudoranges based on the reconstructed carrier phase information. 38.The non-transitory computer readable storage medium of claim 37, whereinthe method further comprises: determining a smoothed uncorrectedposition fix based on the smoothed uncorrected pseudoranges.
 39. Thenon-transitory computer readable storage medium of claim 32, wherein thecarrier phase information is real carrier phase information and whereinthe method further comprises: providing smoothed uncorrectedpseudoranges by applying the real carrier phase information to the rawpseudoranges.
 40. The non-transitory computer readable storage medium ofclaim 39, further comprising: providing smoothed corrected pseudorangesby applying external corrections to the smoothed uncorrectedpseudoranges.
 41. The non-transitory computer readable storage medium ofclaim 40, wherein the method further comprises: determining a smoothedcorrected position fix based on the smoothed corrected pseudoranges. 42.The non-transitory computer readable storage medium of claim 39, furthercomprising: determining a smoothed uncorrected position fix based on thesmoothed uncorrected pseudoranges.
 43. The system as recited by claim32, wherein the method comprises: providing provided pseudoranges thatis one of smoothed uncorrected pseudoranges, smoothed correctedpseudoranges, unsmoothed corrected pseudoranges, and raw pseudoranges;determining a position fix based on the provided pseudoranges; obtaininglocally measured cellular device movement information from at least onesensor that is in a known physical relationship with the cellulardevice; and processing the position fix based on the locally measuredcellular device movement information.